UN WCDRR
ABU leads on DRR by initiating Media Stakeholder Statement at the UN WCDRR in Sendai
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Javad Mottaghi, Secretary-General of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (right), speaks with Margareta Wahlström, UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction (centre), as Giacomo Mazzone, Head of Institutional Relations at the European Broadcasting Union (left) looks on.
Photo by UNISDR
he ABU and EBU representatives presented to the UN Special Representative of the Secretary- General for Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta
Wahlström the signed Media Stakeholder Commitment to the world’s DRR efforts. They reiterated the broadcasters’ dedication to play a crucial role in promoting disaster risk reduction policies, disseminating early warning messages and advancing regional and national risk reduction agendas.
The Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) was instrumental in drafting the voluntary Media Stakeholder Commitment to DRR agenda and securing the support for it of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the African Union of Broadcasting (AUB) and the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU). The Commitment calls for integrating media in the national DRR policies and practices and making media a partner for education people about climate change and disaster preparedness.
Dr Javad Mottaghi, ABU Secretary General, said that such partnership is a “win-win situation” for both the unions and the UNISDR and the only way to reach billions of people.
Margareta Wahlström, Special Representative of the Secretary General for Disaster Risk Reduction, hailed the broadcasters’ strong statement and “formidable outreach”, noting that there was growing demand for their input. “One of the very strong messages which is coming out, and not only from this conference, is a call for much more public awareness and education through media,” she said.
The ABU Executive Assistant Natalia Ilieva briefed the UN Representative about the Union’s activities in DRR such as the ABU/ESCAP DRR Media Initiative and ABU/ UNESCO Climate Change in the Himalayas co-production. She pointed out that governments and the international communities have to do their part and put resources for training of journalists and equipping them with skills and knowledge to be able to cover the complex climate change and disaster risk reduction issues.
The ABU and EBU representatives expressed their commitment to serve wide audiences, and develop dedicated channels of communications and messages to reach the most risk-vulnerable groups such as women, children and youth, persons with disabilities and the elderly – before, during and, after disasters.
10 ABU News
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