Together with the Relief and Resettlement Department of the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Rehabilitation of Myanmar, Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), UN-Habitat and World Vision train Burmese youth volunteers on disaster management and community-based disaster risk reduction.

Following the ongoing training courses, the department aims to establish Youth Volunteer Committees in all villages with the goal of raising disaster awareness and improving the communities’ knowledge of early warning systems, disaster response, recovery and rehabilitation.

Myanmar ranks first as the most at-risk country to natural hazards of the Asia-Pacific region, with historical data indicating that the likelihood for medium to large-scale natural disasters to occur is high. More specifically the country is exposed to multiple natural hazards such as cyclones, earthquakes, floods and fire. Youth volunteers will be an essential part of the recovery in the occasion of a natural hazard.

The first three youth volunteer training courses were conducted in the Yangon region in July–December 2014. ADPC supported the courses by training the youth on climate change, disaster response, disaster recovery and reconstruction, as well as the linkages between disasters and development.
ADPC continues to support the Relief and Resettlement Department for the upcoming training sessions this year.

ADPC’s Senior Capacity Development Officer U Tin Win training the youth volunteers on disaster response,
recovery and reconstruction.