UN WCDRR
ABU Secured Media Support for DRR
Interview with Brigitte Leoni, Senior Communications Advisor for Asia-Pacific, UNISDR
T Photo by UNISDR
he third United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction took place from 14 to
18 March 2015 in Sendai City of Miyagi Prefecture in Japan.
187 states adopted the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. This is the successor to the Hyogo Framework for Action (2005-2015), an internationally agreed plan to make the world safer from natural hazards. The Hyogo Framework for Action 2 will guide the world’s effort in disaster preparedness for the period 2005 – 2015.
At the end of the conference, Brigitte Leoni, Senior Communication Adviser, UNISDR, gave this brief interview to ABU NEWS . The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) is part of the United Nations Secretariat and its mandate is to serve as the focal point in the United Nations system for the coordination of disaster reduction and to ensure synergies among the disaster reduction activities.
What is the role of media in post- Sendai Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) agenda? Media have never been so important to continue raising awareness about disaster risks and warning citizens about their risks and what they should do to minimizing them. Media is not a mere messenger of disaster news, it is a real partner in building resilience against disasters and this is more and more obvious not only among DRR practitioners but also among the large media community. It is more and more clear after Sendai that media see themselves as part of the unceasing and tireless collective efforts to make the world safer from the risk of disasters.
How can media be prepared to fulfill this difficult responsibility? Media do not need to follow specific
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guidelines to report on disasters. If they are professional reporters, they will ask the right questions and question the people in charge, whoever they are, not only government representatives but also citizens in charge of building the resilience of nations and communities. If reporters ask the essential questions: why is it happening? What can be done and how can we do it differently, which are actually questions that are part of their training as reporters, they will fulfill their responsibilities and help saving people from disasters and contribute to build their resilience to natural hazards.
What was the role of ABU in the Conference in Sendai and bringing Media Stakeholders Group together? ABU has been instrumental in bringing the entire Media Stakeholder Group together in Sendai. Since the Sixth Asian Ministerial conference in Bangkok in June 2013, ABU has played a leading role in harnessing partnerships and managed to propose a media declaration in Sendai which defines the essential and crucial role of media in the new Sendai framework for action.
Due to its existing commitments for a safer world, its conviction that media can play a fundamental role in building the resilience of nations, and perseverance, ABU has managed to bring along other big broadcasters unions such as the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) and African Union of Broadcasters (AUB) and convinced them to work together to build a more resilient planet. ABU, as an organization representative of countries which are among the most affected by disasters in the world, has played a fundamental and critical role in advancing the DRR agenda globally and all the DRR community should be grateful to their commitments.
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