The National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) is pleased to announce the winners of the 2020 National Disaster Awareness Week competition.
The winners are as follows:
Best Video – Immanuel Saxena
Best Community Hazard Map – Mereani Ilimotama
Best Poster – Ashley Raj
The 2020 NDAW competition had encouraged members of the public to share an insight about disaster preparedness and disaster risk reduction in their communities.
The competition attracted interests from primary and secondary school and university students.
Saxena, who won the Best Video category said his participation in the competition was motivated by his experiences of past disasters and the fact that the community he lived in had also been prone to disasters over the years.
“Over the years I have witnessed how my family and community prepare for emergencies or disasters,” he said.
“As a student, education and awareness is the foundation to a good and happy life. One must be always prepared as we cannot stop natural disasters, but we can arm ourselves with knowledge so that lives are not lost. Lives can only be saved through adequate disaster preparedness. It is also important to ensure that we listen and follow authentic pages or sources of information in order to be vigilant when disaster occurs.”
Ms Ilimotama who won the community hazard map category said, sending in her entry for the competition was not difficult as her village had also been prone to flooding – something she had witnessed since she was a little girl.
"I've seen how it affects the people in the village and how, if nothing is done, it could leave them at risk in case of any major flooding or emergency in the future,” said the geospatial student at the University of the South Pacific.
“Disaster preparedness is very important and it is everyone's responsibility to be prepared in case of any disaster that may occur any time. Family members of special needs must be taken care of first as movements during the disaster occurrence would bring them harm or even worse, death, so warnings and necessary precautions must be taken to avoid any further or future repercussions.”
Best Poster winner, Ms Raj said the platform provided by the competition allowed her to showcase her talent on a very integral issue affecting Fijians - the need to be prepared for natural disasters.
“Every year natural disasters tend to be more powerful bringing uncontrolled devastation and losses. The need to be prepared for disasters plays a significant role in mitigating its effects. We need to be responsible citizens and understand that if we are prepared for disasters, we are not only protecting our families, but we are supporting our country to brace for the chaos created by natural disasters,” she said.
NDMO Director, Vasiti Soko congratulated the winners and said the NDMO had been overwhelmed with the response received from the public for the competition.
“The NDMO wishes to acknowledge all individuals who took their time to participate by sending in their entries for the competition. We are pleased to note that our work and messaging on disaster preparedness have been very well received by members of the public. This was evident in the entries we had received during the course of the competition,” Ms Soko said.
“We continue to urge Fijians to ensure their families are always prepared during times of disasters and I am confident that the winners of last year’s competition will play an integral role in raising awareness on this in their respective communities.”
The NDMO also wishes to acknowledge its donor partners – the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction Pacific Office and the World Food Programme for coming on board to sponsor the prizes for last year’s NDAW competition.