Jeug GIDS VIR NOODGEREEDHEID

The Youth Emergency Guide, developed by young South Africans (ages 13-25) in partnership with UNICEF and Youth@SAIIA, is a resource designed to build emergency preparedness and social resilience. It defines key concepts such as hazards, risks, and vulnerability, and provides practical steps for youth to identify local risks, develop personal emergency plans, and create early warning systems. The guide covers specific response strategies for floods, pandemics, storms, civil unrest, fires, and droughts, while emphasizing the importance of reliable information and youth leadership in community resilience and policy advocacy.

• The guide distinguishes between a hazard, a disaster, and risk: a hazard is a natural or man-made phenomenon that can endanger people; a disaster occurs when a hazard causes widespread loss of life, property, or environmental destruction; and risk is the probability that a hazard will turn into a disaster.
• Social resilience is defined as the capacity of a social system to handle, endure, respond to, and recover from disasters, focusing on using social connections within groups and networks to manage emergencies.
• The document identifies several recurring emergency types in South Africa, including climate-related events (storms, floods, droughts, and wildfires), health crises (epidemics and pandemics), and human-induced crises such as civil unrest.
• Effective emergency preparedness involves a risk-informed process of identifying local hazards, assessing exposure (such as access to lifeline utilities), and understanding vulnerabilities, including economic vulnerability where families with fewer resources live in higher-risk areas.
• The guide recommends that individuals develop a personal emergency plan that includes identifying a 'safe space' with access to basic resources, creating a contact list of national and local emergency services, and assembling a 72-hour emergency kit containing water, non-perishable food, and essential medication.
• To combat 'fake news' during emergencies, the guide advises youth to verify information by considering the source, seeking supporting sources, checking dates, and using tools like Google's Reverse Image Search to ensure images are authentic.
• The guide provides specific safety protocols for different disasters: for floods, it advises disconnecting electronics and moving furniture above ground level; for civil unrest, it suggests staying indoors and avoiding confrontations; and for wildfires, it emphasizes readiness to evacuate and closing all openings with tape or wood.
• Youth are encouraged to engage in 'systemic change' by participating in municipal Integrated Development Plans (IDPs), reviewing the South African Disaster Management Act, and providing commentary on government policies to ensure youth voices are heard in disaster planning.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (n.d.). Jeug GIDS VIR NOODGEREEDHEID. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/SAIIA-UNICEF-Emergency-Preparedness-Guide-AFRIKAANS-LOW-RES.pdf

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. Jeug GIDS VIR NOODGEREEDHEID. n.d. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/SAIIA-UNICEF-Emergency-Preparedness-Guide-AFRIKAANS-LOW-RES.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=Jeug GIDS VIR NOODGEREEDHEID |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/SAIIA-UNICEF-Emergency-Preparedness-Guide-AFRIKAANS-LOW-RES.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairsndjeug, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{Jeug GIDS VIR NOODGEREEDHEID}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/SAIIA-UNICEF-Emergency-Preparedness-Guide-AFRIKAANS-LOW-RES.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }