Disaster Reduction and Prevention

According to ABU, broadcasters have a responsibility to educate people and raise their awareness of the dangers of natural disasters. This initiative draws on in-person workshops to help members of the media to carry out this process by building their capacity to air public service announcements (PSAs), produce special programmes to mark the anniversaries of previous disasters, and create other content.

To this end, the ABU and UNISDR implemented a series of regional workshops for radio and television broadcasters to help develop faster, more effective early warning systems in the Asia-Pacific region by increasing the rate and accuracy of information flows from meteorological and disaster management organisations to broadcasters. Key goals included: ensuring a rapid flow of disaster and emergency information from broadcasters to the public; helping develop faster, more accurate coverage of disasters when they strike; and raising public awareness of disaster reduction and emergency preparedness by airing educational programmes and PSAs.

The first workshop, titled "Emergency Information Flows From Meteorological Organisations to Broadcasters" was technical in nature and involved Technical or News Directors from broadcast companies and Operational Directors from meteorological, oceanographic, and disaster management organisations. The second workshop, titled "Public Awareness, Preparedness and Response of Individuals and Communities" focused on the broadcasters' capacity and responsibility to educate audiences and raise awareness of the dangers of, and appropriate responses to, natural disasters through the use of public service announcements, educational documentaries, current affairs programming, and other content. This workshop involved Programming and Production Directors from broadcast companies from the 12 tsunami-affected countries.

As part of the initiative, participating broadcasters were encouraged to create a 6-month anniversary update report on the status of recovery efforts in the countries affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami.

Risk Management.

This project is a follow-up activity to an ABU workshop on Natural Disasters and the Broadcaster's Role, hosted by Japan's public broadcaster, Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK), in Tokyo in February 2005. Broadcast journalists and engineers attending the workshop called for ways of receiving prompt warnings from governments and international agencies.

In November 2006, the ABU passed a declaration at its General Assembly in Beijing calling for the implementation of an Emergency Warning Broadcasting System (EWBS) in the Asia-Pacific region. Under an EWBS, a broadcasting station issues a special control signal that is used to activate EWBS radio receivers, even when these are on standby. Emergency warning programmes can then be broadcast on these receivers. The Beijing declaration calls for ABU members to urge their national regulators to enact provisions to implement such a system.