Children Can Be Active Players in Disaster Preparedness: Margo Soltis, Fiji and New Zealand

Margo was surprised by how much she was affected by the programme’s in-depth coverage of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. She was struck by how women – who often take on caregiver roles – perish in disasters because they go back for family, for children.

But in the UNITAR programme, she saw that children could be active participants in the disaster response. Children can be taught evacuation routes and to alert others and act quickly when disasters strike. Margo realized: if children are prepared, women caregivers will not need to risk their lives to save them. It was something that had never crossed her mind. 

I’ll die for my children, I’ll die for my parents, I would go back. But I never actually thought that if you educate [the children] and train them at a young age, you can be confident that they know how to look after themselves. —Margo Soltis, police officer (New Zealand) and UNITAR alumna

Margo noticed that children’s disaster preparedness education is still limited in Fiji and was inspired to adapt lessons from the UNITAR training to make sure children know how to get to safety in emergencies while also giving parents greater confidence in their children’s preparedness.