School safety, security, and violence prevention resource

Despite the numerous controversies surrounding the United Nations, a majority of people still perceive this international body as largely a force to reckon with, an entity to respect and listen to. That is why I think that the recent statements released by a UN official would do the issue of school safety much good.

Toward the end of last week, the International School Safety Conference was held in Islamabad, Pakistan for three days. A highlight of the conference was the fact that the participants brought practical ideas regarding the building of safe schools to the table. Naturally, with the recent earthquake in China still fresh in everyone’s memories, this topic was foremost in the participants’ mind.

According to Salvano Briceqo, Director of UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR):

We know how to make buildings more resistant to earthquakes, but this knowledge is still not yet well disseminated among decision-makers who enforce building codes for houses, schools and hospitals. Schools, hospitals and other critical infrastructure need to be systematically upgraded and retrofitted in earthquake-prone areas if we want to save lives. Vulnerability to earthquakes is still a main cause of death during disasters.

In my mind, the tragedy lies in his first statement – we do KNOW how to make buildings that are up to code. It has been known for such a long time. It saddens me that while we have this knowledge, it is not being put to use everywhere. Maybe I am being simplistic with this thought – there may be many other factors such as finances – BUT are these factors weightier than the safety and the lives of school children? Should politics and bureaucracy take precedence over immediate action that can save lives?

Again, the situation might not be that applicable to our North American schools (might is the operative word here) but does this mean that we should not care? Does it mean that we should just focus on the safety of our schools at home? Perhaps this is a chance for us to reach out and to help somehow. At this point, I have absolutely no idea how we can do that.

I browsed the web sites of the various UN agencies involved, seeing how the average person can help – maybe through donations or awareness campaigns – but I was not able to find anything concrete. Maybe you have some ideas?

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Posted on May 19th, 2008 by Deborah J Thomas
Filed under: News