World Radio Day 2016: Radio in Emergency and Disaster Situations

About:

UNESCO’s General Conference, at its 36th session, proclaimed World Radio Day on 13 February.

Radio is the mass media reaching the widest audience in the world. It is also recognized as a powerful communication tool and a low cost medium. Radio is specifically suited to reach remote communities and vulnerable people: the illiterate, the disabled, women, youth and the poor, while offering a platform to intervene in the public debate, irrespective of people’s educational level. Furthermore, radio has a strong and specific role in emergency communication and disaster relief.

Radio is powerful before, during and after times of emergency and disaster. Radio empowers listeners and allows humanitarian workers and rescuers to protect people.

Here are some key messages to explore:

• Radio is an extremely efficient way in which to assist communities to prepare for disasters and reduce the risk of death and injury.
• Radio can act as an early warning system to reduce disaster risk.
• Radio helps disseminate messages to affected communities and contributes to the impact humanitarian organizations can have on the ground.
• Radio is technically resistant. In times of crisis, radio is always on: Radio is able to broadcast and to be received, even when electricity fails. This makes radio a unique medium in order to maintain the link between rescuers and survivors.