Iran (IMNA) - This year's initiative emphasizes the importance of educating children to empower them to protect themselves and share their knowledge with families and communities. Each day of the week is dedicated to a specific theme:
- **Saturday, October 12**: "Empowering children and adolescents, and the role of schools in building resilience"
- **Sunday, October 13**: "Empowering children and adolescents; the role of the family in building resilience"
- **Monday, October 14**: "Empowering children and adolescents; community resilience"
- **Tuesday, October 15**: "Empowering children and adolescents; the role of social media in promoting resilience"
- **Wednesday, October 16**: "Empowering children and adolescents; the role of computer games in promoting resilience"
- **Thursday, October 17**: "Empowering children and adolescents to adapt to climate change and protect the environment"
- **Friday, October 18**: "Empowering children and adolescents; promoting the culture of preventing accidents and disasters"
This year, the theme of the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, observed annually on October 13, focuses on the role of education in protecting and empowering children for a disaster-free future. UNICEF reports that around one billion children worldwide are at extremely high risk due to climate impacts and related disasters.
Children face significant threats not only from potential death and injury but also from disruptions in schooling, nutrition, healthcare, and protection issues following disasters. To effectively safeguard children from these risks, countries must consider their vulnerabilities when developing national and local disaster risk reduction strategies.
In collaboration with the Climate Change Secretariat, the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) and UNICEF have launched an initiative called Green DADRAS to promote climate literacy among students. The program will benefit 11,536 high school students aged 12 to 15 across Iran.
The initiative aims to raise awareness and promote proactive measures for environmental protection. Guided by the Climate Change Secretariat of the IRCS, 46 master trainers from the Youth Organization of the IRCS have been equipped to lead educational sessions on climate change.
These trainers will subsequently train 824 provincial trainers nationwide to empower over 11,000 high school students within DADRAS teams. The focus will be on critical topics such as drought and floods, enabling students to design impactful climate change-related campaigns within their schools and communities.
By educating these young individuals about climate change's significance, they will be better equipped to make informed decisions and take proactive measures to protect their environment.
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