BUJUMBURA March 4th (ABP) – The Ministry of Public Security and Disaster Management organized, in Nyabagere Conference on Friday March 1, 2019, celebration ceremonies of World Civil Protection Day for 2019 edition under the theme: “The protection of our children is our responsibility”.
The Assistant Minister of Disaster Management, Police Commissioner Serges Ntakavura, who represented the Minister at the opening ceremonies, said that the celebration of the World Day dedicated to civil protection is an opportunity to evaluate the achievements and perspectives of each member country of the organization in disaster reduction.
According to him, the hazards from climate change that occurred during the year 2018 such as floods, strong wind, collapses, landslides, water deficit in some corners of the country as well as epidemics of malaria and cholera caused huge damage in terms of loss of life, destruction of fields, social infrastructures and housing.
The minister’s assistant also pointed out that the groups that were most affected among the people were the most vulnerable, including children in particular. He added that the recent illustrative cases are the Carama and Buterere floods where more than 511 houses were destroyed, 2576 people were left homeless, including 1918 children.
Police Commissioner Ntakavura said that regarding those threats stemming from such events, the Burundi Government has continued its efforts in favor of children, explaining that actions are already foreseen in the action plan (2018-2021) for the implementation of the national risk and disaster reduction strategy in school curricula.
The Director General of Civil Protection at the Ministry of Public Security and Disaster Management, Mr. Antoine Ntemako, said that this year, they will focus on the protection of children and that the answer to the issues that haunt the sector is multi sectoral.
In terms of education, he noted that ceremonies participants advocated for insurance in schools to be paid by parents of students, arguing that there are institutions that have difficulty in covering expenses in case of accidents. They also advocated for the free registration of births at the commune level.
