"The analysis is based on online media coverage in five languages throughout the year. CARE sees a concerning trend of crises being neglected year after year. Six out of the ten crises are located on the African continent. The Central African Republic has appeared in the ranking for five consecutive
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years. Both Madagascar and Burundi – the latter this year’s number 1 with the least media coverage – have made CARE’s list four times so far. This lack of attention adds to burdens such as the severe effects of COVID-19 restrictions and the growing impact of climate change in these countries." (https://reliefweb.int)
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"A number of issues have been raised in this report that will help the media to improve on service delivery in disaster-related issues and to be prepared in disaster management. Not only the media has vowed to improve but also government institutions, humanitarian response organizations and media st
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akeholders have also pledged to play a part in supporting the media to carry out its role efectively in terms of accurate and timely reporting. Some of the important points raised in the consultation process were: National and district structures that are set by both government and nongovernment organizations have to involve the media in the planning, processing and implementing of national mechanisms that would help the media in carrying out their duties; the media need to be well-equipped with training and resources that would strengthen their professional capacity; there has to be a good rapport between the media and all government and non-government entities for efcient and efective reporting; there should be proper planning in disaster management amongst all stakeholders involved in this process to enhance coordination at all angles." (Conclusion, page 27)
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"The report documents the status of response-wide Communication, Community Engagement and Accountability towards Affected Populations (CCEA) in Colombia and provides recommendations for a strengthened and more inclusive response. The report explores the operating environment, what works well and wha
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t improvements and efficiencies can be made across responses for the common good in the context of CCEA. It promotes the creation of synergies between the various coordination efforts and supports existing collective platforms and related cluster coordination functions. It further seeks to support the development and integration of a common services approach to AAP, communication and engagement with communities across coordination efforts, and helps response actors understand immediate needs, gaps and opportunities in CCEA." (Introduction, page 7)
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"COVID-19, caused by SARS-CoV-2, has led to a global pandemic. The World Health Organization has also declared an infodemic (ie, a plethora of information regarding COVID-19 containing both false and accurate information circulated on the internet). Hence, it has become critical to test the veracity
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of information shared online and analyze the evolution of discussed topics among citizens related to the pandemic. This research analyzes the public discourse on COVID-19. It characterizes risk communication patterns in four Asian countries with outbreaks at varying degrees of severity: South Korea, Iran, Vietnam, and India. We collected tweets on COVID-19 from four Asian countries in the early phase of the disease outbreak from January to March 2020. The data set was collected by relevant keywords in each language, as suggested by locals. We present a method to automatically extract a time-topic cohesive relationship in an unsupervised fashion based on natural language processing. The extracted topics were evaluated qualitatively based on their semantic meanings. This research found that each government's official phases of the epidemic were not well aligned with the degree of public attention represented by the daily tweet counts. Inspired by the issue-attention cycle theory, the presented natural language processing model can identify meaningful transition phases in the discussed topics among citizens. The analysis revealed an inverse relationship between the tweet count and topic diversity. This paper compares similarities and differences of pandemic-related social media discourse in Asian countries. We observed multiple prominent peaks in the daily tweet counts across all countries, indicating multiple issue-attention cycles. Our analysis identified which topics the public concentrated on; some of these topics were related to misinformation and hate speech. These findings and the ability to quickly identify key topics can empower global efforts to fight against an infodemic during a pandemic." (Abstract)
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"Agencies in charge of flood management use disaster reports (DRs) as the preferred source of information on past flooding events. A systematic survey of DRs prepared by Italian agencies suggests that DRs could be widely enhanced in view of targeting more effective communication to citizens, reinfor
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cing the communication pillar in civil protection planning and management, and improving the resilience of the population to extreme events. Without loss of the rigor and details required for all the usual technical uses of DRs, we suggest recompiling them in the form of ‘‘disaster tales’’ (DTs), as tools that offer wider knowledge of the events to improve people’s preparedness and self-protection behavior. Recent major flooding events have demonstrated the communication potential that videos and pictures taken by citizens have for risk perception and disaster preparedness. By watching and listening to what has happened the communication recipient can better understand the feelings of the people experiencing an emergency. The structure of the improved reports, we suggest, will finally integrate data, graphs, and maps with interactive tools and be able to present handier multimedia views of the events. Application to three case studies of flooding in Italy illustrates how to concretely implement the suggested disaster reports to create more readily accessible disaster tales." (Abstract)
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"Drawing on the Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication framework, we sought to examine how leading health organizations use Instagram for communicating and engaging during the COVID-19 pandemic. We manually retrieved Instagram posts together with relevant metadata of four health organizations (WHO,
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CDC, IFRC, and NHS) shared between January 1, 2020, and April 30, 2020. Two coders manually coded the analytical sample of 269 posts related to COVID-19 on dimensions including content theme, gender depiction, person portrayal, and image type. We further analyzed engagement indices associated with the coded dimensions. Results: The CDC and WHO were the most active of all the assessed organizations with respect to the number of posts, reach, and engagement indices. Most of the posts were about personal preventive measures and mitigation, general advisory and vigilance, and showing gratitude and resilience. An overwhelming level of engagement was observed for posts representing celebrity, clarification, and infographics. Conclusions: Instagram can be an effective tool for health organizations to convey their messages during crisis communication, notably through celebrity involvement, clarification posts, and the use of infographics. There is much opportunity to strengthen the role of health organizations in countering misinformation on social media by providing accurate information, directing users to credible sources, and serving as a fact-check for false information." (Abstract)
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"The South African disaster response activities surpass risk reduction since the implementation of the Disaster Management Act 57 of 2002 (DMA) and the National Disaster Management Framework of 2005 (NDMF). Risk reduction, in particular risk communication, remained unexploited until the occurrence o
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f coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The legislation and policy mandate a proactive approach for disaster management, requiring a focus on disaster risk reduction. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the significance of risk communication as a critical prevention and mitigatory strategy in disaster risk management, focusing on the COVID-19 pandemic. Key to risk communication success is ensuring adequate comprehension, accurate perception of the disseminated information, and compliance with regulations. Questions of trustworthiness, acceptability, effectiveness, and usefulness of messages and strategies communicated sought answers from the Bloemfontein population. Furthermore, the Agenda-setting Theory provided the grounding for the study. The study sample was picked in a stratified random sampling manner, using the confidence level and margin of error equation. A questionnaire survey was used to collect the data required to achieve the research objectives." (Abstract)
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"Pakistan suffered from a massive earthquake in October 2005 that caused the deaths of more than 87 000 people. As a result of this calamity, around 3.5 million affected people had no access to information. In these scenarios,community media became an important catalyst. In developing countries, rad
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io had proved far more accessible and useful than any other medium. But because of this natural hazard, local media also suffered heavily as dozens of journalists died and media houses and press clubs were destroyed. The current study attempted to explore the role of frequency modulation (FM) radio stations working in the earthquake hit areas in Pakistan. These stations were temporarily setup to inform the victims about the rehabilitation and reconstruction plans of the agencies involved. The data has been collected qualitatively through five focus group discussions which were conducted in the earthquake affected areas. Twelve in-depth interviews were also conducted for this purpose with FM stations personnel. The results revealed that the FM radio stations played a very important role in the rehabilitation phase by providing vital information to the victims, relief agencies and government. Lifesaving information like weather updates, precautionary measures in the tents, public service announcements and encouraging messages provided some hope to the victims to restart a normal life, and also motivated the students to restart their studies in makeshift schools.These FM networks became the voice of the affected people and helped a lot in bridging the communication gaps between the affected, relief agencies and government, and also ensured citizens’ participation in decision-making processes." (Abstract)
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"When people look online for information about humanitarian crises, they increasingly encounter media content that blurs the line between reality and fiction. This includes everything from rumour and exaggeration to partisan journalism and completely invented stories designed to look like real news
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(so-called ‘fake news’). This article shows that disinformation is causing real and serious harm to those affected by humanitarian emergencies; it can undermine the ability of humanitarian workers to provide relief; and it has exacerbated conflict and violence. Disinformation is also making it harder for journalists to report on the humanitarian sector, and hold the powerful to account, because it undermines audience trust in information more generally. The article concludes by considering interventions that could address the challenges of disinformation. It argues for more support of quality journalism about humanitarian crises, as well as media literacy training. Finally, it is crucial that aid agencies and news outlets commit to accuracy and fact checking in their reporting and campaigning." (Abstract)
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"The search and rescue of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants on the Mediterranean has become a site of major political contestation in Europe, on the seas, in parliaments and government offices and in online public opinion. This article summarises one particular set of controversies, namely, fals
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e claims that the non-government organisations conducting such search and rescue operations are actively ‘colluding’ with people smugglers to ferry people into Europe. In spring and summer 2017, these claims of ‘collusion’ emerged from state agencies and from anti-immigration groups, became viral on social media platforms and rapidly moved into mainstream media coverage, criminal investigations by prosecutors and the speech and laws of politicians across the continent. These claims were in turn connected to far-right conspiracy theories about ‘flooding’ Europe with ‘invaders’. By looking at the experience of one particular ship, the MV Aquarius, run in partnership by MSF and SOS Méditerranée, the authors detail the risks that humanitarian organisations now face from such types of disinformation campaign. If humanitarian organisations do not prepare themselves against this risk, they will find themselves in a world turned upside-down, in which their efforts to help people in distress become evidence of criminal activity." (Abstract)
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"Focusing on the pivotal period of 1919–23 and the large-scale humanitarian responses in Central and Eastern Europe, this paper discusses the development of advocacy in the movies made by organizations like the ICRC, Save the Children Fund or American Relief Administration. While aid agencies obse
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rved and competed with each other for visibility, humanitarian cinema shaped visual advocacy, grounded in the idea that ‘seeing is believing’. Exploring the fragmented audiovisual archives, as well as magazines and promotional material, this paper explores the testimonial function of humanitarian films in the 1920s. It first shows that the immediacy of the cinema technology increased the immersive and affective experience of the viewers by using forensic evidence and images of the body in pain. It then analyses how these films compelled audiences to witness suffering and act through persuasion, suggestion, and emotions. Finally, it inquires into the use of eyewitness images and firsthand accounts during the screenings, to show how these movies operated within larger regimes of visibility, while making claims on behalf of distant beneficiaries." (Abstract)
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"This study, undertaken during the COVID-19 outbreak in Burkina Faso, found that radio enabled sharing of rapid, relevant, and reliable information, even during COVID-19 and a deteriorating security situation. Radio can be considered and deployed in emergency context as an urgent response tool. Huma
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nitarian actors can use radio to disseminate rapid, relevant, and reliable information to conflict-affected communities and counter disinformation. Involving affected communities in the production and dissemination of information, through interactive broadcasts and as sources of information, helps improve its effectiveness as a public health messaging tool." (Introduction)
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"Section 1 focuses on creating an enabling environment. Mobile network operators (MNOs) operate in a regulated environment.5 However, if this environment is not sufficiently enabling to support disaster preparedness, response and recovery, MNOs will encounter challenges when disaster strikes. This s
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ection provides a broad overview of a country’s mobile landscape by helping practitioners to appraise the policy, legal and regulatory environment and identify key areas for policy intervention.
Section 2 focuses on data sharing. Here, practitioners can take a closer look at the data ecosystem by examining not only the policy and regulations that exist on paper, but also what it takes to implement data infrastructure and policies for using and protecting data across the humanitarian ecosystem. These include institutional mandates, technological options, human capabilities, incentives and enforcement mechanisms. Understanding how infrastructure systems, processes, people and policies support humanitarian innovation in practical ways is key.
Section 3 provides an analysis of use cases in mobile-enabled emergency telecommunications. These use cases help to capture the lived experiences of those in the humanitarian ecosystem and guide policy reviews in support of government priorities, use cases and humanitarian interventions." (About this guide, page 5)
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"As the production, content, and display of humanitarian images faced the requirements of digital media, humanitarian organizations struggled to keep equitable visual practices. Media specialists reflect on past and current uses of images in four Canadian agencies: the Canadian Red Cross, the Multic
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ultural Council of Saskatchewan, the World University Service of Canada, and IMPACT. Historically, the risk to reproduce the global inequalities they seek to remedy has compelled photographers, filmmakers and publicists in these agencies to develop codes of visual practice. In these conversations, they have shared the insights gained in transforming their work to accompany the rise of new digital technologies and social media. From one agency to the other, the lines of concern and of innovation converge. On the technical side, the officers speak of the advantage of telling personal stories, and of using short videos and infographics. On the organizational side, they have updated ways to develop skills in media production and visual literacy among workers, volunteers, partners, and recipients, at all levels of their activity. These interviews further reveal that Communications Officers share with historians a wish to collect, preserve, and tell past histories that acknowledge the role of all actors in the humanitarian sphere, as well as an immediate need to manage the abundance of visual documents with respect and method. To face these challenges, the five interviewees rely on democratic traditions of image-making: the trusted relationships, both with the Canadian public and with local peoples abroad, which have always informed the production and the content of visual assets. For this reason, humanitarian publicists might be in a privileged position to intervene in larger and urgent debates over the moral economy of the circulation of digital images in a globalized public space." (Abstract)
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"Barbadians are not sufficiently prepared for natural disasters. In addition to being heavily reliant on electricity and the internet for communicating during times of crises and disasters, Barbados is in need of a mandatory building code, more resilient housing and building infrastructures, and gre
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ater uptake of insurance among property owners. Moreover, some Barbadians continue to be delayed in their response to emergency warnings. Their tendency to procrastinate on preparing for emergencies and disasters is largely attributed to the fact that, unlike other Caribbean territories, Barbados has not been significantly impacted by a disaster event for over sixty (60) years. As the telecommunication penetration continues to rise in the island, and the Barbados Government continues to be increasingly communicative, the past few years have seen the emergence of a healthier information ecosystem in Barbados, which in turn has made it easier for Barbadians to access the information that they need to effectively participate in society. This progress is however being undermined by the presence of the following undesirable properties: citizens’ and media professionals’ lack of access to information from local authorities caused by inaccessibility of authorities, unavailability of information, and bureaucratic structures and processes of; some citizens’ lack of access to the key information channels; the disabled community’s inability to access information from credible news and information sources; government’s increasing control over information flow; delays in dissemination of crisis and disaster communication to the media by the government; the use of jargons in crisis and disaster communications by local authorities; the proliferation of fake news and propaganda shared on social media and other online platforms; the inability of some Barbadians to identify malicious/inaccurate information; the deterioration of trust among Barbadians in their main information sources." (Overview of key findings, page 7)
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"Ce guide a pour but d'aider à identifier les lacunes, les opportunités et les faiblesses du système afin de guider la définition d’une stratégie nationale plus cohérente et de positionner la téléphonie mobile comme appui aux activités de préparation, de réponse et de relèvement en cas
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de catastrophe. Une évaluation complète des besoins et des capacités d'un pays, de ses agences et de ses politiques est indispensable pour améliorer les stratégies et les plans de télécommunications d'urgence existants, ainsi que pour intégrer les aspirations d’un PNTU basé sur la téléphonie mobile dans un plan national global de réponse aux catastrophes ou de développement national." (Conclusion, page 13)
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