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Newsletter
School Programs for Earthquake and Tsunami Safety in APEC Economies
A comprehensive school safety program that outlines how to keep students out of harm’s way who live in earthquake, tsunami, and volcano zones in the APEC countries.
Location: Australia, Brunei, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, China, Chile, Indonesia, Korea, Peru, Chinese Taipei, Canada, Malaysia, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, United States, Russia, Vietnam
Time Frame: 2011
The Problem
Countries of the Asia Pacific region share exposure to natural hazards associated with their location along the “Ring of Fire,” which is home to more than 75 percent of the world’s active and dormant volcanoes. Close to 90 percent of the world’s earthquakes occur along its length. The magnitude and frequency of those hazards present serious challenges to safety, welfare and long-term development throughout the region.
GHI’s Response
GHI led a nine-month initiative to provide guidance to Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) working with representatives of the 21 member countries to develop a comprehensive school safety framework on how to keep children safe at school during natural hazard events.
Results
• Endorsement of Safe@School-Protecting Children from Natural Hazards, a guide which identifies new opportunities for APEC to promote school safety in preparation for the known risk of earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions.
• Confirmation of APEC’s significant opportunity to demonstrate leadership in school safety by mitigating vulnerabilities to natural hazards.
• Agreement on eight programs that are essential ingredients of an effort to ensure student safety in preparation of hazard events.
• Priority activities identified to increase resilience and reduce risk for schoolchildren in APEC economies.