Building young leaders in resilience: UNDRR and the safe coast bim programme
Hurricanes, storm surge and coastal erosion shape daily life in Barbados. The young people growing up on the island will spend their adult lives managing those hazards. How much damage each event leaves behind will depend, in large part, on decisions they help make: where communities build, how homes and schools are constructed, and how fast people act when a warning arrives.
This summer, a group of them started learning how those decisions work. UNDRR partnered with the Ashley Lashley Foundation as part of the Safe Coast Bim Youth Disaster & Emergency Preparedness Programme 2026, a national initiative equipping teenagers across Barbados with the knowledge and skills to be disaster-ready and to build climate resilience in their own communities.
Learning risk, on the ground
As part of the wider programme, UNDRR organised a morning session with participants, exploring the fundamentals of disaster risk: how hazards, exposure and vulnerability interact, and how communities can reduce risk long before a hazard ever strikes.
To bring the concepts to life, the session moved outdoors for Resilient Together, a life-size board game developed specially for the occasion. Laid out tile by tile across the playground, teams moved across the board, making decisions about where people live, how buildings are constructed, how ecosystems are protected, and how communities prepare. Along the way, players saw first-hand how early warning and early action can significantly reduce losses, turning an abstract concept into something they could walk through, discuss, and debate as a team.
A closer look: UNDRR Shadow Day
For one Safe Coast Bim participant, the experience didn't end with the summer programme. Recognised for the leadership, curiosity, and passion for disaster risk reduction she showed throughout the programme, she was invited to spend a UNDRR Shadow Day at our office.
Going in, her goal was to explore an area she is genuinely passionate about, while gaining a broader understanding of disaster risk reduction and how UNDRR's work fits into the wider UN system. She was especially interested in how international approaches to disaster risk reduction can be adapted to benefit Small Island Developing States (SIDS) like Barbados and the Caribbean, and in hearing perspectives that differ from the ones she has grown up with at home.
The day also gave her a chance to build her communication, collaboration and leadership skills. She met colleagues from UNDRR and partner UN agencies, sat in on meetings and team discussions, and had the opportunity to ask questions and share her own ideas and experiences.
Reflecting on the day, she said one of her biggest takeaways was realising that the UN is not a single organization, but a system made up of different agencies, each with its own focus area, a lesson that reframed how she understands international cooperation on issues like disaster risk reduction. She also spoke about the value of hearing from people with different backgrounds and approaches, noting her belief that meaningful solutions are created when people work together and recognise the value of varying perspectives.
Investing in the next generation
Together, the Safe Coast Bim Programme and the UNDRR Shadow Day reflect UNDRR's commitment to engaging young people directly in the work of building resilience, not just as future beneficiaries of disaster risk reduction, but as active participants and leaders in it today.
UNDRR joined Safe Coast Bim at the invitation of the Ashley Lashley Foundation, and is grateful for the opportunity to support the young people of Barbados as they build a safer, more resilient future for their communities.