Millions of children throughout the world are affected by disasters each year (Penrose & Takaki, 2006). Children, especially those living in poverty or in marginal and underdeveloped environments, assume a disproportionate share of the burden created by disasters, both in the near and long term (Back, Cameron, & Tanner, 2009). In 2011, declaring children to be ‘the group most affected by disasters each year’, the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR, 2011, p. 1) advocated their active participation in disaster risk reduction activities. Disaster risk reduction represents organized approaches to examine and address factors associated with disaster risk and exposure, with human and material vulnerabilities, and with adverse disaster effects (UNISDR, 2009). Rather than simply passive victims of disasters (Anderson, 2005; Mitchell, Haynes, Hall, Choong, & Oven, 2008; Peek, 2008), children can contribute to disaster mitigation, preparedness, and response (Anderson, 2005). Thus, children are resources to be nurtured and mobilized in support of disaster preparedness and resilience for the present and future (US Department of Health and Human Services [USDHHS], 2017).
