ADPC’s iPrepare campaign to increase public awareness of preparedness to natural hazards was launched in Asian University for Women and Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET) in Bangladesh this week.

Pre-undergraduate students of Asian University of Women and post-graduate students from the departments of civil engineering, disaster and environmental engineering, architecture as well as urban and regional planning from CUET were engaged to explore their communities’ preparedness and report their findings as part of a national competition.

The campaign engages university students from the cities of Dhaka, Chittagong and Khulna – all with different disaster risk profiles. The participating university students will learn about the concept of disaster risk reduction and acquire an understanding of how they can contribute to their communities’ preparedness – both in their future professions and in private life.

Sharing knowledge with others

The campaign − piloted in Vietnam earlier this year − enables the students to share their new knowledge about disaster preparedness online at the iPrepare website.

Supported by the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the campaign will be launched at Dhaka University, Daffodil International University and Khulna University during the second week of September.

The students at Asian University of Women, coming from international backgrounds, were eager to learn more about disaster
preparedness during the expert lectures delivered by ADPC, Young Power for Social Action and the Bangladeshi Fire Service.

The students of Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology following a CPR demonstration by the Fire Service of
Bangladesh.

Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr. MD. Jahangir Alam and Assoc. Professor Dr. Sudip Kumar Pal welcomed ADPC to launch the iPrepare
campaign at CUET.