Sri Lankan students take part in High School Students Islands Summit on World Tsunami Awareness Day

The Government of Japan hosted the High School Students Islands Summit to commemorate the World Tsunami Awareness Day that falls on 5 November as declared upon by the resolution adopted at the United Nations General Assembly in 2015. The Summit was held on 7 and 8 November at Okinawa, Japan with the participation of 150 students around the world. Six students from Galle District had the opportunity to participate in this Summit, representing Sri Lanka. 

The purpose of the summit was to foster future leaders who will commit themselves in building the resilience of their regions and minimising the impacts of damages to people’s lives caused by natural disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis. As the main organiser of this event, Okinawa Prefectural Government and Okinawa Prefectural Board of Education invited high school students from island countries, which have similar natural environments across the globe to participate in the Islands Summit. The summit provided the opportunity for students to discuss and make presentations on the theme of disaster prevention and mitigation, as part of the World Tsunami Awareness Day enlightenment activities.  

Sri Lankan representatives consisted of six high school students and a teacher-in-charge, representing four national schools in Galle District. Tharusha Liyanagamage and Thisara Rukmal from Richmond College, Irosh Withana from Mahinda College, Dileesha Thisarangi and Kaori Hettiarachchi from Southlands College and Devdini Rathnayake from Sanghamita Balika Vidyalaya as well as the teacher-in-charge Madushika Ranasinghe were the members who represented Galle District. In parallel with the summit theme, the Sri Lankan team made a presentation on ‘Replanting of mangroves in the coastal area along the Gintota Bridge in Galle district, Sri Lanka’. The presentation emphasised the importance of protecting coastal belt as a measure of preventing and mitigating the coastal erosion that might occur due to tsunami and other natural disasters. Also, the students took part in a commemorative tree planting ceremony and a cultural performance event representing Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka participates in First World Tsunami Museum Conference in Japan

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in cooperation with the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) hosted the First World Tsunami Museum Conference in Japan on 5 November to celebrate the ‘World Tsunami Awareness Day’. Participants from eight countries namely, Chile, Indonesia, Mexico, Portugal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkey and the United States took part in the event. P.H. Priyanthi from the Community Tsunami Museum in Hikkaduwa had the opportunity to participate in this conference representing Sri Lanka.

The First World Tsunami Museum Conference was held at Ishigaki City, Okinawa Prefecture to advocate the World Tsunami Awareness Day and to strengthen international cooperation for passing on the records stored in the tsunami museums to the next generation. The conference discussed how to share the knowledge and experience on disaster with future generations and how to strengthen the relationship between disaster related museums in each country. Representatives from the local governments, co-organisers, supporters and other stakeholders took also part in the conference. 

The Sri Lankan representative was appointed as one of the panellists under the topic of ‘Passing on: Role of Tsunami Museums as centres for knowledge transmission’, which was one of the key themes highlighted throughout the conference. She pointed out that it is crucial to pass on the records kept in tsunami museums to the next generation, in order to prepare themselves against future tsunamis, which may strike at any moment.