Chapter summaries

Focus on information in disasters

Chapter 1 - Data or dialogue? The role of information in disasters

Disaster affected people need information as much as water, food, medicine or shelter: accurate, timely information can save lives. The right information helps aid organizations to understand better the needs of affected communities and ways to meet those needs. Today’s information technology presents new possibilities, but has not been fully exploited by humanitarian organizations. A multitude of data is available on websites, but this is often inaccessible to vulnerable communities. Aid agencies are poor at sharing information with people in need. It is vital that aid organizations consult with disaster affected communities in a transparent way. This is a key principle governing relations between aid agencies and survivors.

Chapter 2 - Run, tell your neighbour! Hurricane warning in the Caribbean

The 2004 Atlantic hurricane season was one of the worst in decades. Cuba, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic were hit very hard physically and economically, but suffered relatively low death tolls because of effective hurricane warning and evacuation. Early warning requires both technology and people-to-people communication. Secrets of success in the Caribbean include credible hurricane forecasting, national warning, efficient local government, civil society participation, proactive media and high public awareness.

Chapter 3 - Locusts in West Africa: early warning, late response

Over 9 million people faced severe food shortages in 2005 across West Africa’s Sahel region due to poor harvests following years of drought and the 2004 locust plague. Warnings of both the locust swarms and subsequent food crisis went unheeded and responses to appeals for aid were sluggish. The Sahel crisis could have been avoided. So who was to blame for the failure to respond quicker? Some argue that one of the reasons was the weakness of national early warning systems and locust control teams. Others argue that most donors didn’t react until the disaster hit the international media’s headlines.

Chapter 4 - Information black hole in Aceh

The tsunami which hit Aceh on 26 December 2004 left some 164,000 people dead or missing and nearly 400,000 homeless or lacking all means of subsistence. Destruction, death and international solidarity reached proportions seldom seen before. Over 200 humanitarian organizations – plus military forces from a dozen countries – offered their aid. However, information sharing between agencies and consultation with affected people were very poor. The enormous, chaotic international response succeeded in getting aid to most survivors. But the duplication of effort and competition for profile and beneficiaries raise serious concerns.

Chapter 5 - Sharing information for tsunami recovery in South Asia

Following the impact of the tsunami on South Asian countries, accurate information was a vital resource – but often in short supply. Teachers and social workers in affected countries found that explaining the disaster’s causes helped survivors dispel feelings of guilt. Aid agencies reduced suffering by putting people in touch with missing family members by satellite phone. In India, local networks such as the Nagapattinam coordination cell proved highly effective in exchanging information between affected communities and disaster response officials.

Chapter 6 - Humanitarian media coverage in the digital age

How can aid organizations promote media coverage more proportionate to human suffering? It is important to invest in media relations, to keep up a constant dialogue with journalists, to be creative and proactive. Aid organizations need to supply journalists with good disaster data and updated background information. Targeting the right journalists is important. Agencies could make far more use of Internet technologies, to present their own stories, photographs and video footage. Speed is crucial, especially while the story is “hot”. And never give up: in this game, persistence really does pay off!

Chapter 7 - Radio in Afghanistan: challenging perceptions, changing behaviour

Radio broadcasting remains a vital form of direct, rapid communication with people most at risk from disaster, conflict or disease. Since 1994, the BBC has broadcast a radio soap opera entitled “New Home New Life” to Afghans in two local languages. Storylines range from traditional Afghan sagas to child health, drug abuse, female education and mines awareness. Researchers found that the programme created a “fictional space” in which Afghans could address controversial issues. Evaluations have shown that people have adopted less risky behaviour since hearing the drama.

Chapter 8 - Disaster data: building a foundation for disaster risk reduction

Disaster data are vital for identifying trends in the impacts of disaster and tracking relationships between development and disaster risk. Databases are becoming increasingly useful, as their data are being fed into analytical tools to help prioritize international action to reduce disaster risk. Galvanised in part by the tsunami, databases are also being used to develop early warning tools. Disaster data have improved greatly in the last 20 years, but a number of challenges remain, including standardized, systematic data collection and public accessibility to data.

Posted October 5, 2005