Understanding children’s risk and agency in urban areas and their implications for child-centred urban disaster risk reduction in Asia: insights from Dhaka, Kathmandu, Manila and Jakarta
Working paper series 6,2014:
This paper examines children’s risk and agency in four large Asian cities – Dhaka (Bangladesh), Jakarta (Indonesia), Kathmandu (Nepal), and Manila (the Philippines) – and makes recommendations for child-centred urban disaster risk reduction. It presents the findings of a study involving focus group discussions with street children, working children and squatter and slum children, and key informant interviews with relevant local, national and international agencies involved in child rights and/or disaster risk reduction in each city.
The paper argues for a much greater focus on linking disaster risk reduction with long-term action that can address the provision of protective infrastructure and basic services as key determinants of child-health and disaster and climate resilience. It concludes by outlining a set of priority action areas for Plan International and other child-centred organizations that seek to reduce children’s long-term risks in Asian cities.