Ever excitedly awaited gala event of "Students' Summit on Earthquake Safety - 2009" has been concluded during 3-5 August 2009 at Hetauda, Nepal; with series of stipulated programs & activities adding few more dimensions in its edition. The summit has collectively affirmed "Hetauda Resolution - 2009" to consolidate the knowledge and lessons of earthquake safety gained during the summit and contribute to disseminate that to schools and communities, continuously learn about natural hazards and ways of achieving safety from them by formal and informal education, be actively involved in making our school buildings strong against natural hazards, assist in developing and implementing school disaster preparedness plan including evacuation drills in our schools,assist our parents, teachers, community leaders and government officials to make our schools gradually safer against natural hazards, listen to the advice of and collaborate with benevolent organizations in the implementation of school disaster reduction programs; and advocate for expanding outreach of the summit to other schools of Nepal and other disaster prone countries of the region.

As a part of the School Earthquake Safety Program (SESP) being implemented by National Society for Earthquake Technology (NSET), the School Physical Improvement Program, being implemented by Department of Education (DOE), and as part of the Disaster Education Program of Maiko High School, Kobe, Japan the three institutions jointly organized the Students’ Summit for Earthquake Safety- 2009 during 3-5 August 2009 at Hetauda, Makawanpur, Nepal in close collaboration with ActionAid Nepal, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Save the Children Alliance Nepal, UNICEF, and USAID.

The residential 3-day Summit drew a total of 125 participants including 66 students and 32 teachers from 30 public schools in 18 districts of Nepal, 10 participants from various disaster management committees, a delegation of 17 Japanese participants including 2 teachers and 10 students from Maiko High School of Kobe and 3 delegates from Support for International Disaster Education (SIDE) – a Japanese NGO created by previous students of Maiko High School and 2 delegates from Osaka University.

Campaign theme of the Summit was “Let’s Keep Our Schools Safe from Earthquakes”.

Objectives of the Summit were:

1) Raising earthquake awareness of participating schools and institutions by sharing of knowledge and experience among schools of Nepal and between Nepalese schools and Maiko High School of Japan

2) Promote in Nepal international good practices including rich experience of Japan on earthquake safety, especially after the Kobe Earthquake of 1995.

3) Provide a common platform for cultural exchange among school children nationally and internationally and for discussing methods of developing and implementing School Earthquake Preparedness and Evacuation plan.

4) Develop understanding and fraternity among school students of different parts of Nepal and with students from Kobe, Japan.

The 3-day Summit program included physical exercises and games, cultural programs, earthquake drills, lectures and discussion on aspects of earthquake and preparedness, and practical exercises on improving earthquake preparedness in schools.

The program commenced on 3rd August in the early morning at 7:00hrs with a rally carrying placards of various awareness slogans to keep schools earthquake safer. Around 500 people from various corners of society, including students from Nepal and Japan in large, walked around the city covering key areas of the locality. The rally was addressed by District Education Officer Mr. Cholendra Kumar Pandit and other speakers from organizing partner organizations.

The summit was then formally opened by Chief Guest of the opening ceremony, Mr. Hari Prasad Mainali, Chief District Officer, Makawanpur amid a mass of participants, observers, media-persons and oraganizers assembled at Seminar Hall, Hotel Avocado, Hetauda. In his keynotes, he emphasized on the importance of the summit in developing earthquake safety in day to day life of people.

Representatives of the collaborating institutions referred to the high casualty of school-going children and teachers during recent earthquakes in the region, critically evaluated the programs in Nepal, highlighted the immense potential contribution of the students in achieving earthquake safety in community by carrying the message from schools to family and ultimately to the community. A consensus opinion was the necessity of expanding the outreach of disaster safety message to all households and to all communities of Nepal. The speakers endorsed the efforts made so far in the country and tasked NSET to continue the School Earthquake Safety Program including creative advocacy at policy-makers level.

During the 3-days program the participants happily engaged in all activities. Presence of Japanese students and teachers was extremely motivating. The Summit ended with a “Hetauda Resolution 2009” in which the students, the teachers, the activists committed to work further to ensure 1) all schools to be made earthquake safe, 2) to promote inter-school and international collaboration in school earthquake safety, and 3) proposed to expand the summit outreach to other seismic countries of the Asia.