Organizing a joint press conference in the Capital on Friday, the SAARC Disaster Management Center and the UNICEF Regional Office for south Asia informed that SAARC Secretary General Arjun Bahadur Thapa, senior policy makers and high-level representatives from the United Nations, the European Union, and SAARC member states are currently involved in a dialogue on reducing disaster risks among children."Child-centered disaster risk reduction is a long-term investment. Raising awareness of children and youth on disaster risk will ensure better disaster-prepared generations across this region and contribute to save and improve many lives" Philippe Cori, deputy regional director for UNICEF in south Asia said.
More than 1 million children were severely affected by the April 25 earthquake in Nepal. In Bangladesh, 840,000 children were affected by the Cyclone Komen. Half a million children were affected by avalanches, floods and conflict in Afghanistan, whereas more than 4 million children were affected by floods in Jammu and Kashmir, India. Likewise, over a million children are suffering from acute malnutrition since the drought in the Sindh province of Pakistan.
Experts have raised concern that the situation was further exacerbated by poverty, rapid urbanization, and socio-economic challenges in the region. The lack of interventions would leave millions of children in South Asia at the risk of diseases, malnutrition, psychological trauma and disruption of education in post disaster scenario.
Over the past decade, South Asia has faced more than 350 disaster events annually, affecting 264 million people per year and costing the region an average annual loss of about US $109 billion. Although disasters affect all, children are disproportionately vulnerable to risks as data shows more than 60 percent of those killed or affected are children, informed the organizers.
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