BY JOY OFASIA
Children should be actively involved in disaster preparedness planning to help them understand risks, build confidence and contribute to safer and more resilient communities. Save the Children Solomon Islands Country Coordinator Tory Clawson highlighted this in her remarks at the official launch of the UmiRedi mobile application on 12 October 2026 at the Heritage Park Hotel in Honiara.
Clawson said children should not only be protected during emergencies but also given opportunities to learn and participate in preparing for disasters. “At Save the Children, we believe children should not only be protected during emergencies, they should also be supported to learn, participate, and help build stronger, more resilient communities,”
Clawson said. She said disaster preparedness should begin at home, with families discussing potential emergencies, planning what to do and ensuring children understand where to seek help when disasters occur.
Clawson highlighted that children who understand the risks and know what to do during an emergency can contribute to family preparedness by helping communicate concerns about how disasters could affect them, their siblings and friends. She encouraged families to include children in emergency planning so their needs and concerns could be considered when developing practical preparedness measures.
“Children should be part of these conversations since when they understand the risks and know the plan, they can receive greater confidence and they can let their family members know how the risk might affect them and their siblings and friends. So that can be considered in any plan making it more effective,” she said.
She said the success of Umiredi would depend on collective efforts from the government, development partners and communities, including helping people learn about the application, use it confidently and provide feedback to improve it.
The Umiredi mobile application was officially launched by the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, Disaster Management and Meteorology on 12 October 2026 to strengthen disaster preparedness and improve access to climate and disaster information across the Solomon Islands.
