Join in the celebration across the airwaves on 13 February 2017
Radio is a vital tool in the work of the Red Cross and Red Crescent. It is a medium that is used worldwide, dynamic and engaging in nature, allowing us to communicate and reach a wide audience. Aside from using radio in coordinating response during a disaster and sharing life-saving, actionable and useful information with communities, we work with radio as a platform to listen and provide channels for open discussions and feedback. We want to bring communities together and use their diverse voices to influence positive change and enable them to define their own solutions together.
World Radio Day – 13 February – is a chance to highlight some of the ways we are using this old technology to do new things.
Radio and the Red Cross and Red Crescent
This case study illustrates how Bangladesh Red Crescent chose community radio stations as a medium of communication to build awareness of disaster preparedness among people in Kurigram and Barguna districts.
When the Ebola virus disease erupted in Guinea in December 2013 and quickly spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone, Gambians considered the outbreak as a distant cry until six months later when it struck neighbouring Senegal and Mali. As the second smallest country in West Africa, Gambians feared that if Ebola ever struck their soil, it would have devastating consequences on the small population of 1.8 million people.
It is a hot and busy Saturday morning in Abidjan and volunteers with the Red Cross Society of Côte d’Ivoire are preparing for their live radio show on Radio Amitie’, a community radio station in the capital. The topic this week is malaria, but today the volunteers will not talk only about the usual malaria prevention messages, they will also tackle some of the strongest traditional beliefs existing in communities.
A few hours before typhoon Melor (local name: Nona) struck Northern Samar, Reynald Fidel, Philippine Red Cross (PRC) Northern Samar chapter administrator, completely lost contact with the National Headquarters in Manila. With no signal bars on his cell phone, he picked up the only single-band radio in the office and called a friend who works at the local airport control tower to get updates on the coming typhoon. The radio proved to be a critical lifeline, as the chapter received vital and timely information on where and when exactly Melor would hit in their area, and they were able to quickly dispatch rescue teams to evacuate residents into safer locations.
The need for information dissemination through radio during and after the strike of an epidemic is as important as life’s necessities. For the Liberian National Red Cross (LNRCS), the necessity of information dissemination to the vulnerable people is a priority in bringing about transformation especially after the Ebola crisis in Liberia.
In Pictures: Hello Red Crescent – We Listen to You
Bangladesh Red Crescent Society’s live community radio show provides people with useful information related to their recovery and development, and the opportunity to ask questions. With this approach, the Hello Red Crescent show can reach people where access to information is a challenge and promotes dialogue with disaster-affected communities and more effective partnerships. The show allows people to share experiences and discuss their needs with the Red Crescent and other stakeholders.
Posters
