The winners of the Global Competition for Youth-led projects on Floods and Droughts – organized by the Water Youth Network in collaboration with the joint WMO/Global Water Partnership Associated Programme on Flood Management (APFM) and the Integrated Drought Management Programme (IDMP) – were announced at the Youth Forum for the Global Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction (GPDRR) on 22 May in Cancun, Mexico. Both projects were presented at the United Nations Major Group for Children and Youth (UN MGCY) Youth Forum poster session and Market Place.
The Competition showcased practical examples of advances in the integrated approach to flood and drought risk management through the involvement of youth. The focus was on three themes: understanding risk, early warning system development, and risk management and planning.
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| Volunteers map key flood hazard, exposure and vulnerability information in Nepal through the Center for Social Development and Research project entitled Integrated Participatory and Collaborative Digital Mapping to Enhance Disaster Resilience |
Category 1 winner: Ongoing projects - Integrated Participatory and Collaborative Digital Mapping to Enhance Disaster Resilience in Nepal, Prakash Khadka, Center for Social Development and Research (CSDR). This project engages young social mobilizers and volunteers by training them to integrate community-based participatory mapping processes with Internet-based collaborative digital mapping technologies. The main objective was to map key information pertaining to flood hazard, exposure and vulnerability at the household and community-level across lower Karnali river basin before the 2017 monsoon, and to develop a transdisciplinary approach that can be replicated in similar regions across Nepal. So far, volunteers have remotely-mapped 54 communities in the Kailali and Bardiya districts, including over 2 500 houses and over 100 km of roads and trails.
Category 2 winner: New project proposals - “Preparing our Home” by Lily Yumagulova, Casey Gabrial, Sandy Bernice and students from the “Preparing our Home” programme at the Xetólacw Community School and International Sustainability Education Foundation (ISEF). This community-based disaster resilience programme was designed and implemented by Canada’s First Nations communities. It developed multiple grade school curricula and created intergenerational, multi-stakeholder opportunities to understand risk and context-specific youth-led, and community implemented, risk management and planning activities. Training activities focus on understanding risk and developing flood and drought resilience strategies as well as emergency management plans and preparedness planning.
The Water Youth Network, APFM and IDMP will work closely with the winners, supporting them technically in order to maximize the social impact in their communities.
