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The 1st Disaster Education Material Development Award

Turkey is located on a complex terrain where the Eurasian plate, African plate, and Arabian plate overlap, and it is said that turkey is a country with many earthquakes as well as Japan. This year marks the 10th year since the 2011 earthquake in eastern Turkey, and is also the "Disaster Prevention Year" stipulated by the Turkish government, so teachers will further develop and disseminate disaster prevention education materials and JICA Turkey Office and the Turkish Japanese Foundation will be the first "Disaster Education Material Development Award" in Turkey was held. The contest is held by relevant Turkish organizations such as the Ministry of National Education, Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD), the Middle East Technical University (METU) and the Emergency Relief Foundation, with the cooperation of the Embassy of Japan in Turkey and the Paris Office in Hyogo Prefecture.

The event has consisted of four categories; (1) preschool and elementary school category, (2) junior high school category, (3) high school category, and (4) special education for children with intellectual disabilities category with a total of 40 entries from 21 prefectures. The proposed disaster education teaching materials include tabletop games that combine quizzes and slump on disaster prevention, disaster prevention simulations using small models, disaster prevention videos linked with mobile apps and SNS, etc. and those included a variety of ideas that interest students. The judges selected excellent materials from these proposals and held an award ceremony on November 12, 2021.

The award ceremony consisted of two parts, and in the first half was about the activities by the JICA Turkey Office and the Turkish Japanese Foundation for disaster education. An introduction was made by Dr. Emin Ozdamar, Deputpy Country Representative of JICA Turkey Office. In addition, a disaster education theater using shadow painting (Karagoz), a traditional Turkish performing art, was also demonstrated. In the second half, each judge awarded teachers for the presented materials that were recognized as particularly excellent in each category.

"I was suffering from the 1999 earthquakes and recognized the importance of disaster prevention, and I am pleased to recognize the importance of various efforts I made for disaster education in this contest," said Ms. Ayla UYGUN, a teacher who won the first prize in the special curriculum category for children with intellectual disabilities.

Opening Remarks by Mr. Takero AOYAMA, Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy of Japan

Opening Remarks by Dr.Sadri ŞENSOY, Deputy Minister of National Education

Mr. Shinichiro OE, Director, Paris Office, Hyogo Prefecture is giving award to Ms. Ayla UYGUN

Disaster Education Materials Designed by Ms. Ayla UYGUN

Joint Disaster Prevention Education Program Utilizing Hyogo Fraternity Fund

In Turkey, a country prone to earthquakes, August 17 and November 12, 1999, large earthquakes exceeding M7.0 occurred, causing enormous life and economic damage. In response to these earthquakes, Hyogo Prefecture established the Hyogo Turkish Fraternity Fund, and together with Turkish Japanese Foundation in Ankara, implemented a scholarship donation for orphans.

Since October 2014, the Hyogo Turkish Fraternity Fund has been supported by the Hyogo-Turkey Earthquake Disaster Prevention Project, and to this day, through the cooperation of Hyogo Prefecture and the Turkish Japanese Foundation, many disaster education programs have been held for junior-high and high school students and children with intellectual disability and their families and teachers in Turkey. JICA Turkey Office has supported the planning and continuation of these activities, including cooperation among office staffs and ex-trainees in the planning and implementation of the program.

At the same time, JICA has implemented a series of projects to convey Japan's knowledge and experience on disaster risk reduction to Turkey. In particular, in the School Based Disaster Education Project (Phase 1:2010-2014, Phase 2:2017-2020) conducted with the Ministry of National Education, with the aim of strengthening the system by utilizing teacher training, which is a strength of Turkish educational administration, JICA have been engaged in activities such as establishing a system for teacher training, drafting guidance textbooks for disaster prevention education, examining guidance proposals, and spreading them nationwide in Turkey. After the project ended, the Ministry of National Education established its own teacher training platform, and the disaster education network continues to expand, as teachers are developing teaching materials in various places.

JICA Turkey Office will continue to cooperate with the Turkish Japanese Foundation to support the dissemination and development of disaster education activities in Turkey, raise citizens' awareness of disaster risk reduction, and contribute to strengthening disaster resilience for cities in Turkey.

Introduction of disaster education program by Dr. Emin Ozdamar of JICA Turkey Office

Karagöz, a traditional Turkish performing art screening of a shadow painting about disaster education

Listening to the teacher's explanation by Mr. Nobuhiro IKURO, Chief Representative, JICA Turkey Office

Listening to the teacher's explanation by Mr. Ismail BARAKOGLU, Deputy President, AFAD