Third-year accounting student Salina Dharamsi participated in a UN panel on disaster risk reduction as a Canadian Youth Ambassador on February 9. The informal thematic debate was hosted in New York by the UN General Assembly in conjunction with World Vision, UNDP and Save the Children.
At the panel, Dharamsi joined representatives from these organizations to discuss how the UN and NGOs can improve preventative measures so that when disasters hit developing countries, the people will suffer less mortality, morbidity and infrastructure destruction.
As one of two youth representatives, Dharamsi advocated for ways through which the UN can engage youth in disaster risk reduction, such as the use of social media and the provision of jargon-free information and opportunities for youth to offer input.
Online: http://newsletters.sauder.ubc.ca/news/View.aspx?id=256747&p=0507
Dear Salina,
Thanks for participating in the informal debate! Great initiative and support for youth and disaster risk reduction.
In case you didn’t know, we’re organizing the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction from 8-13 May in Geneva, Switzerland.
We’re planning to have a Wall of Tweets, so if you want to tweet questions or comments during the event, you can use #gpdrr2011.
http://www.preventionweb.net/globalplatform/2011/
Cheers,
Vincent
Visit our website – http://www.unisdr.org
Follow us on Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/unisdr
Find us on Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/disaster.reduction