RadioAsia 2006 Workshop: Role of Radio in Emergencies

This report is based on the discussions held in Singapore at the RadioAsia
workshop entitled the Role of Radio in Emergencies on June 20
2006.

According to the report, radio is the most effective and cheapest means of communication to reach large segments of the population in urban, coastal and rural areas. Thus, radio is often seen as a reliable source for information when other means of communication break down.

The report outlines many of the ways in which organisations and broadcasters have been preparing for the dissemination of information during an emergency. Some of the examples include: providing multi lingual radio scripts to build public awareness of disaster prevention; teaching disaster awareness as part of the school curriculum; presenting short, to the point, public service announcements (PSAs) during emergencies; and providing open source software to help community radio stations report in disaster situations.

The report also includes recommendations of the role that local broadcasters and journalists can play in disaster prevention. Some of the recommendations include:

• To inform and help educate people on disaster risk reduction.
• To raise awareness on the causes of disasters, rather than just
  reporting only on the consequences.
• To have an emergency plan in place to allow them to broadcast during and immediately after a disaster
• To investigate and alert the public when disasters are predicted.

To highlight the importance of information as an important tool in disaster reduction, the report provides examples of situations where a lack of information caused even greater damage after a disaster. One example referenced a report by Internews about an earthquake in Pakistan where “after the earthquake, in remote parts many villagers waited for relief to arrive. By the time they finally realised it was not coming, days and weeks had passed, winter was well underway and some of those who had been badly injured had lost their lives.” Using this example Internews stressed the significance that an airdrop of cheap transistor radios coupled with coordinated broadcasts about the situation could have made on the lives of the affected people.

The report concludes with the acknowledgment that there needs to be a balance between the long-tem (sustainability, ownership and training) and short-term (reunite families, support search operations and prevent epidemic diseases) solutions during a disaster, and offers three technical assistance strategies:

1. Fly-away Radio Stations - this consists of a "box" measuring around 55 x 50 cm, contains a laptop computer, a mixer, a compact disc/cassette player and a 30 watt FM transmitter which can be used to produce radio programmes
2. Radio in a (Bigger) Box - this involves putting a complete radio station inside a standard sea container, providing an instant safe and secure location for the studio and transmitter
3. The rebuilding of local stations and the training of staff

Of the above strategies, the first and second are considered temporary loan solutions that should not be attempted without the implementation of the third strategy.