The importance of training on how to deal with multi-ethnic and religious neighbourhoods

“What we care about is to have a good training on what comes next and on long term developments. The multicultural camps are nothing more than a recreation of what was there before. But you scramble neighbourhoods. If I have 10 Romanian families that normally live in different areas of the city, in camps they end up together and group up, and Italians lament their presence in their camp. They were there before, as well, but the arrangement changed. Knowing different cultures, their approach to food, death, gender issues and the fact that, for Muslims, a woman with uncovered arms touching a man’s body is an offense… We don’t need to adapt, but need to envision a different training for the long terms” (G1 - see source document for full reference).

Cultural Factors: Customs/traditions/rituals, Gender roles, Ethnicity

Hazards: Natural hazards, Man-made non-intentional hazards or emergency situations, Man-made intentional hazards

Disaster Phases: Response, Recovery

Types of Actors Concerned: National civil protection body, Local authorities, Red Cross, NGOs, Military, Law enforcement agencies, Healthcare and emergency services

Recommendations:

• Develop culturally aware disaster preparedness and response training
• Training programmes for citizens of all ages should be developed. These are necessary to increase citizens’ knowledge of and preparedness in case of disasters. The training activities should be organized on the basis of a training strategy and should take various forms, ranging from emergency drill to workshops