A national campaign to bring awareness of natural hazards such as earthquakes, storms, and flooding to local communities has been launched in Bangladesh. The campaign encourages university students and journalists around the country to act as advocates for better preparedness to disasters, which pose a growing threat to the citizens of the country.

Implemented by Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) with support from the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the program trains journalists to better pass the message of disaster preparedness to the public. In addition, more than 500 university students from different study fields in Dhaka, Chittagong and Khulna are trained on disaster preparedness, and encouraged to share their reports on the topic online as part of a national competition called iPrepare.

Interested media professionals are invited to the opening ceremony of the two-day media training on 12 September at 10 am at Press Institute Bangladesh in Dhaka. The training will be opened by Mr. Mohammad Abdul Wazed, Director General, Department of Disaster Management of Bangladesh.

Every year, more than 10 million people in Bangladesh are affected by disasters, and the economic damages rise up to more than USD0.5 million (Preventionweb.net). ADPC actively supports the Bangladesh government in disaster preparedness through risk assessments and capacity building with the Department of Disaster Management, Bangladesh Meteorological Department, Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence, Red Crescent Society, communities and other stakeholders.

The iPrepare student campaign will be implemented in cooperation with the University of Dhaka, Daffodil International University in Dhaka, Asian University for Women in Chittagong, Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology, and Khulna University.

More information about the campaign can be found at www.adpc.net/iprepare.

Media release (pdf)

Details of the opening ceremony:

Time:
Opening ceremony of the media training on
Friday 12 September at 10.00 at Press
Institute Bangladesh.

Address:
3 Circuit House Road, Dhaka-1000

For more information contact:

Ms. Leila Uotila
Communication Specialist
Asia Disaster Preparedness Center
Email: leila@adpc.net
Tel.: +669 2463 3097

Mr. Jamil Ahmed
Chief Executive
Journalism & Training Research (JATRI)
Email: ajamilbd@gmail.com
Tel.: 01711 855 732