The Drum Beat 274 - Responding to Emergencies and Disasters
***
We pause to honour the life of Everett M. Rogers, who passed away on October 28 2004. A pioneer in the field of communication for development, Mr. Rogers shared his gifts in the course of a 47-year career that took him around the globe. On December 13 2004, William Smith of the Academy for Educational Development will host a memorial service (in Washington, DC, USA) to celebrate Mr. Rogers' rich contributions as a mentor, teacher, guide, and friend. If you have messages regarding Ev's passing, please send them to drumbeat@comminit.com and we will ensure they are shared.
***
RESPONDING TO EMERGENCIES & DISASTERS
This issue of the Drum Beat focuses on some of the ways in which communication can rekindle development processes in times of natural disaster or emergency.
***
CONTEXT
1. Reducing Disaster Risk: A Challenge for Development (Part 1 of 2)
Between 1980 and 2000, 75% of the world's population lived in areas affected at least once by earthquake, tropical cyclone, flood, or drought; 11% of those exposed live in countries classified as having low human development, but account for 53% of deaths. (UNDP, Feb. 2004)
2. Disastrous Weather
In 2002, rains in Kenya displaced more than 150,000 people; 800,000 Chinese were affected by the most severe drought in over 100 years. In the past 20 years, floods and related disasters were among factors prompting 10 million Indians to migrate to Bangladesh. (The World Watch Institute, Oct. 2003)
3. Water: Foremost Cause of Natural Disaster
Nearly 2 billion people were affected by natural disasters during the 1990's. Floods are the second most frequent cause of natural disaster after windstorms, but affect more regions and people than any other phenomenon. The number of people who died in floods in 1999 was more than double the number killed by floods in any other year in that decade. (WHO, Sept. 2001)
4.Community Radio Society of Tafea (CReST FM) - Tafea, Vanuatu
In 2004, CReST set up a community FM radio network for the province of Tafea on the island of Vanuatu. Based on community input, the local board of trustees took control of the administration, programming, and direction of the initial 2 transmitters funded by Vanuatu Education and UNICEF. Programming focuses on province-specific material; CReST anticipates playing a role in Vanuatu's frequent times of natural disaster (earthquakes, cyclones, Tsumamis). The goal is to provide information and open new avenues of communication in a largely oral culture.
Contact Gudfella@vanuatu.com.vu
5.Community-Based Disaster Preparedness (CBDP) Programme - Andhra Pradesh, India
In 2003, a network of 20 local NGOs involved in disaster management called CADME (Coastal Area Disaster Mitigation Efforts) began training children to recognise cyclone warnings and act on them. This programme is based on the notion that children can absorb and disseminate life-saving information to their parents and other community members. Children from the fifth standard onward in 50 villages of East Godavari district are enticed to remain after school for the weekly 40-minute training sessions with the offer of sweets and a "learn while you play" strategy.
Contact Mr. Meda Gurudutt Prasad cadmeindia@rediffmail.com OR cadmeindia@sify.com
6.Reconstruir Information System - El Salvador
This online information system was designed to alert members of the indigenous community of San Ramón, El Salvador about the status of community rebuilding after the 2001 earthquakes. Created by Infocentros with the support of the UNDP, the interactive portal was a tool for consolidating, distributing, and discussing information generated by various actors (citizens and NGOs) involved in the process of addressing immediate and long-term development problems.
Contact Clemente San Sebastián clemente.sansebastian@undp.org
7.HAM Radio Project - Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda
"When an area is struck by floods, the utility grid - including mobile phone towers and antennas - is likely to be destroyed over hundreds of square kilometres. During such emergencies, amateur radio is often the only means of communication between the communities in the affected area and the outside world." Aiming to close the knowledge gap between producers and users of climate information, this station joins a network of amateur HAM radio operators working to improve communication about droughts and floods, with an emphasis on reaching farmers and rural communities.
Contact Professor Laban Ogallo laban.ogallo@meteo.go.ke
8.Sphere Project - Global
Launched in 1997 by humanitarian NGOs and the Red Cross/Red Crescent, this project is grounded in the belief that those suffering from calamity due to natural disaster have a right to life with dignity and therefore a right to assistance. Over 400 organisations in 80 countries worldwide contributed to the development of a series of universal standards and indicators for disaster response. The Sphere Training Program has been developed to equip practitioners with concrete strategies for using this handbook in their work. Consistent with its stated commitment to share experience and information, Sphere launched an online/email consultation on the future of the project, post-2004.
Contact Alison Joyner Alison.Joyner@ifrc.org OR info@sphereproject.org
9.A Pension in Fish - India
A cyclone and tidal wave destroyed fishing boats, as well as homes and other equipment, in Andhra Pradesh, India. As part of a long-term solution, relief money was used to buy and transport logs and rope to build 30 rafts, each carrying 3 fishermen who "then entered into a contract to own the new boats as a cooperative, sharing the profits...each boat would donate 2 kilos of fish to the elderly & disabled". Surplus fish collected by the elderly were sold in nearby villages.
Contact sidorenko@un.org
***
Pulse Poll
Development institutions rely on gender stereotypes rather than foster resistance to them.
Do you agree or disagree?
[For context, please see The Drum Beat 273]
***
10.Community Based Care for Separated Children
by David K. Tolfree
The International Save the Children Alliance organised a project to explore fostering, group care, and other types of care arrangements for children and adolescents separated from their parents and communities due to natural disaster and other crises. One focus was on understanding various categories of "hidden" separated children as well as those whose needs are addressed. The project produced case studies in 6 countries; participative research with children was a key theme.
11.Involving Local Communities to Prevent and Control Forest Fires
"Globally, 95 percent of all fires are caused by various human activities," according to Mike Jurvelius, an FAO forest fire expert. Thus, "prevention and control have to involve people at local level. The traditional approach of focusing on legislation and expensive equipment alone is not sufficient....Local communities actively participate in forest fire prevention and control when they have a stake in forest management and benefit from the forests...A village in China, for example, has had no uncontrolled fires for over 35 years, ever since a policy was adopted that provided benefits and income from the forests to the villagers."
12.Community Radio Gives India's Villagers a Voice: Officials Worry Local Stations May Foment Unrest
by Rama Lakshmi
Our Voices - "Namma Dhwani" - is a small independent community radio initiative in Boodikote, Karnataka, India. Villagers formed the station in March 2003 to demand action on the part of public officials when their public water pipes dried up due to drought. They created a cable radio service because India forbids communities to use the airwaves; a media advocacy group laid cables, sold subsidised radios with cable jacks to villagers, and trained young people to run the station.
13.Emergency Insecticide Treated Nets (ITN) Distribution and Retreatment, Mozambique
Prior to 2000, knowledge of the role of mosquitoes in malaria transmission was less than 30% in Mozambique's rural areas, and pregnant women were not recognised as an at-risk group. In response to the extensive flooding that affected Mozambique in 2000, partners distributed more than 200,000 ITNs free of charge to families in internally-displaced person camps in the Manhiça district and resettlement camps in the Gaza province. Community-based participatory sessions and live theatre-based education supported the ITN distribution. This paper describes the methodology and impact of this project.
14.Economics Forever
"Natural disasters are increasing: the floods in Venezuela and Mozambique and the cyclone in Orissa, India, are just a few recent examples. Many of these disasters may well have been intensified by human activities such as deforestation and by global warming. At the same time, the protest demonstrations at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) meeting in Seattle in December 1999 highlighted worldwide concern that economic growth based on free trade is having negative impacts on society and the environment, especially in poorer countries."
15.Dateline Earth: Journalism as if the Planet Mattered
by Kunda Dixit
This publication starts from the premise that media coverage of Nepal tends to be preoccupied with imperiled or injured mountaineers (especially if they are American) to the neglect of other stories about this area. Dixit's claim is that issues like jungle families sickened by mine tailings, peasants adversely affected by global free trade, countries impacted by toxic dumpsites, and general environmental neglect are often ignored.
LINKS: NGOs
16. NGOs in the Balkans
List of international humanitarian organisations providing relief to victims of disaster in Kosovo and the wider Southeastern European region.
17. MEDAIR
Uses training to involve beneficiaries worldwide in emergency relief projects.
***
This issue was written by Kier Olsen DeVries.
***
The Drum Beat seeks to cover the full range of communication for development activities. Inclusion of an item does not imply endorsement or support by The Partners.
Please send material for The Drum Beat to the Editor - Deborah Heimann dheimann@comminit.com
To reproduce any portion of The Drum Beat, see our policy.
To subscribe, click here.
- Log in to post comments