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Survey Report_5 October '08_Final

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Survey Report: Practices of Community Radios in

Natural Disaster Management Situations

Funded by the Ford Foundation, Indonesia as part of the Disaster Management & Poverty Reduction through Local Community Radio in the Indonesia and the Asia-Pacific Region Project Implemented by: World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC) Asia Pacific Regional Office, Kathmandu, Nepal Email: [email protected]; www.asiapacific.amarc.org In Collaboration with: Combine Resources Institution Indonesia, Jaringan Radio Komunitas Indonesia (JRKI) and AMARC-Japan Working Group


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Content

Background Page 3 Objectives of the Survey Page 4 Section One: General Information Page 5 Section Two: Community Radio’s Past Experience in Dealing with Natural Disasters Page 8

Section Three: Programme and Network Related to Natural Disaster Page 14 Section Four: Training and Capacity Building of Community Radios on Disaster Risk Reduction Page 24 Conclusion Page 25 Recommendation Page 27 Annex 1 Page 28


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Survey Report “Practices of Community Radios in Natural Disaster Management

Situations” BACKGROUND “Disaster Management and Poverty Reduction through Community Radio” is a project supported by Ford Foundation, implemented by the Association of World Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC) Asia Pacific Regional Office in collaboration with Combine Resources Institution, Indonesia, Association of Community Radio Broadcasters of Indonesia (JRKI) and AMARC-Japan Working Group. Many of the countries in the Asia-Pacific region, and Indonesia in particular, face two serious problems that this project will address through the development of community radio: an increasing number of devastating natural disasters, such as tsunamis, and an ongoing, nagging high level of poverty. The main objectives of the project are:

a) To improve the networking and programme delivery mechanisms in Indonesia among the community radios so that the local communities are better informed to combat poverty and cope with natural disasters such as tsunamis; and

b) To provide training and strengthen awareness throughout the region regarding the role of community radios in disaster management so that citizens are better prepared to deal with natural disasters, one of the main causes of poverty throughout many countries in the region.

These objectives will be met in a variety of ways, including:

• Assessing the current practices of community radios during disaster and post disaster situations;

• Holding a three-day conference for at least 20 broadcasters from the Asia-Pacific region that will focus on both ways of assisting communities during natural disasters, and how specialized radio programming can help families and communities when it comes to poverty reduction;

• Substantially increasing the capacity of AMARC websites and websites in Indonesia to provide detailed information concerning how to cope with a natural disaster, what steps can be taken to attempt to reduce poverty, as well as other issues, such as health matters, education, and support for farm communities, and

• Follow-up activities and networking with both new groups that join AMARC during the project as well as regular members concerning what mechanisms and help AMARC can put in place to assist local stations so they can effectively serve their communities.

To carry out an assessment of how community radios have reacted in times of disaster management, a questionnaire with the aim of gathering information on the various activities was distributed among the countries of the Asia Pacific region. Responses were received from Afghanistan (one), Australia (one), India (two), Indonesia (nine), Japan (three), Laos (one), Nepal (sixteen) and Sri Lanka (one). These responses have been tabulated and analysed to provide a basis for determining the curriculum for a training workshop on community radio’s role in disaster survival management.


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OBJECTIVES OF THE SURVEY The general objective of the survey was to determine the practices of community radio in disaster management situations. The specific objectives were:

1. General information about the community radio like their address, contact person, staffing, total hours of broadcast and area coverage

2. The community radio’s past experience in dealing with natural disasters 3. Their programme and networks related to natural disaster in dealing with emergency

response, during the rehabilitation and reconstruction phase and during pre-disaster phase.

4. To determine community radio’s training and capacity building on disaster risk reduction.

This survey has to a certain extent been able to shed light on the overall practices of community radio during natural disaster through their past experiences and current practices. This will be of help in preparing the curriculum for a Training of Trainers on Disaster Management. The report has adopted both descriptive and analytical research. It has attempted to describe the role of community radio during natural disasters at two levels – one at their organisational level and the other through their programmes and preparedness. Due to time constraint, the findings of the survey could not be cross checked. The survey was carried out in the countries of the Asia Pacific region especially in Indonesia, Japan and Nepal which are natural disaster prone areas. A questionnaire survey was administered to the sampled community radios to collect data regarding their practices on disaster management situations and their preparedness and disaster risk management. The survey questionnaire is presented as Annex 1. The study faced limitations as it relied heavily on questionnaire survey. The chances of not responding to the questionnaire by some of the community radios were high. Even if they did, some filled them out of obligation rather than of interest and in some cases few data field were left blank. Hence, the information may not be wholesome and therefore reflect the full perceptions of the community radios.


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SECTION ONE: General Information The first part of the survey was to get general information of the community radios like the gender composition of their staff; the number of hours of broadcast each day and the area covered by the broadcast. The survey was carried out in the eight countries of the Asia Pacific region namely Afghanistan, Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Nepal and Sri Lanka. The following community radios from each of the mentioned countries participated in the survey.

Afghanistan Radio Sahar Australia SCMA India PARD Vanoli and St. Aloysius College Indonesia Al-Jumhur FM, Angkringan FM, Darsa FM, Gema Nusa FM,

Gita Swara FM, Lintas Merapi, Radio Rakambia, Rakom Gusit 107.8 FM, and Suara Sinabang FM

Japan FM Nagaoka, FM Tajima and Radio FMYY Laos Khoun Community Radio for Development Nepal Radio Appan Mithila Mhz, Baglung FM, Bheri Awaz FM,

Bheri FM, Environment Cycle Radio FM (ECR), Radio Jagaran Mhz, Community Radio Lumbini, Community Radio Madan Pokhara, Radio Mahakali, Madhyapurva FM, Madiseti FM, Panchakoshi FM, Radio Rapti FM, Samad FM, Radio Sindhuligadi FM and Community Radio Solu FM

Sri Lanka Kothmale Community Radio station

The types of community radios in these eight countries were very diverse as can be seen from Table 1. The staff strength in the community radios surveyed varied from just 5 staff to a total of 113 staff including volunteers. The total staff was 1189 (Female= 481, Male =708) It is clear that there are more number of male staff 60% including both full time staff and volunteers than the female staff 40% in community radios surveyed. While 60% of male were full time staff at the CR station, 45% of women worked part time.


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Table 1 General Information of the Community Radios

Country Name of Stations

Full time staff Part time Staff Volunteers Total

Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Total

Afghanistan Radio Sahar 5 2 4 3 2 0 11 5 16

Australia SCMA 0 0 7 8 7 8 14 16 30

India PARD 14 3 10 2 25 10 49 15 64

St. Aloysius College 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Indonesia

Al-Jumhur 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 5 5

Angkringan 0 0 0 0 4 6 4 6 10

Darsa FM 0 0 0 0 4 3 4 3 7 Gema Nusa

FM 2 8 0 0 20 30 22 38 60

Gita Swara FM 4 10 2 3 0 1 6 14 20

Lintas Merapi 0 0 0 0 2 13 2 13 15

Rakambia 9 6 1 4 12 8 22 18 40

Rakom Gusit 0 2 4 11 11 12 15 25 40 Suara

Sinabang 0 0 0 0 5 9 5 9 14

Japan

FM Nagaoka 4 6 1 3 0 0 5 9 14

FM Tajima 2 2 3 1 0 0 5 3 8

FMYY 1 1 3 2 50 40 54 43 97

Laos Khoun CR 4D 0 1 0 0 5 11 5 12 17

Nepal

Appan Mithila 3 20 0 0 0 0 3 20 23

Baglung FM 4 10 6 11 3 7 13 28 41

Bheri Awaz 5 13 7 8 5 4 17 25 42

Bheri FM 4 7 6 10 4 6 14 23 37

ECR 7 25 2 2 17 60 26 87 113

Jagaran 11 17 5 7 5 8 21 32 53

Lumbini 12 20 6 4 3 3 21 27 48 Madan

Pokhara 9 14 0 2 16 20 25 36 61

Mahakali 12 13 5 7 0 0 17 20 37

Madhyapurva 2 5 2 2 5 51 9 58 67

Madiseti FM 2 4 5 8 3 5 10 17 27

Panchakoshi 3 3 3 5 1 3 7 11 18

Radio Rapti 9 3 6 5 3 20 18 28 46

Samad FM 7 12 4 8 3 4 14 24 38

Sindhuligadi 13 5 4 4 5 3 22 12 34

Solu 5 6 2 2 3 7 10 15 25

Sri Lanka Kothmale 2 6 6 3 3 2 11 11 22

Total 151 224 104 125 226 359 481 708 1189

% 40% 60% 45% 55% 39% 61% 40% 60%


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Table 2

Broadcast Hours per Day

Country Name of Stations

Broadcast hours per day Coverage

Afghanistan Radio Sahar 13 65-70 sq km around Herat city Australia SCMA 24 80,000

India PARD 4 12 sq km 60,000/-

St. Aloysius College 0 10 km

Indonesia

Al-Jumhur 7 5 km Angkringan 5 5km one village Darsa FM 12 2.5 km

Gema Nusa FM 5 2.5 km one village Gita Swara FM 17 5 districts Lintas Merapi 18 10 km 2 sub-districts

Rakambia 18 20 km 9 districts Rakom Gusit 4-6 hours 2.5 km

Suara Sinabang 14 Part of East Simeulue 12 villages

Japan FM Nagaoka 24 200,000 people 800sq km FM Tajima 24 100,000 people 450 sq km

FMYY 10 250,000 people, 20 sq km Laos Khoun CR 4D 6 32,000 people 85% of Khoun population

Nepal

Appan Mithila 18 13 districts Baglung FM 16 - Bheri Awaz 14 750,000/- Bheri FM 12 300,000/-

ECR 18 4 million Jagaran 18 2 Million 80 sq km Lumbini 18 1.5 million

Madan Pokhara 16.45 5 Million 20 districts Mahakali 18 200,000 150 km

Madhyapurva 10 500,000 Madiseti FM 18 100 sq km Panchakoshi 14 500,000 30 sq km Radio Rapti 12 500,000 300 sq km Samad FM 10 300,000 40 sq km

Sindhuligadi 10 1.5 Million Solu 13.5 100,000

Sri Lanka Kothmale 5 100,000 100 sq km

The number of hours of broadcast varied from 24 hours to just 4 hours a day. The area covered by the radio station broadcast ranged from 1 village to 20 districts, 2.5 km to 300 square kilometers and a population reach from 32,000/- people to about 5 million people.


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SECTION TWO: Community Radio’s Past Experience in Dealing with Natural Disasters To determine the community radios past experience with natural disaster the survey first looked into the natural disasters which frequently occur in this region. The findings from the survey are given in Table 3.

Table 3 Types of Natural Disasters

Types Options Responses Received Percentage

Type

of N

atur

al D

isas

ter

likel

y to

exp

erie

nce

Tsunami 4 8% Floods 12 24%

Flash floods 8 16% Earthquake 12 24%

Volcanic eruptions 2 3% Landslides 13 25%

Any other: Lightning, fire, typhoon and mud floods

Landslide is the most common natural disaster (25%) followed by both earthquake and floods (24% each), though flash flood (16%) is also a frequent phenomenon in the region. The other natural disasters occurring in the region were lightning, fire, typhoon and mud floods apart from tsunami and volcanic eruptions. Floods and landslides occurred as recently as August, 2008 following the rainy season while the last major natural disaster was the earthquake that hit Kobe-shi, Hyogo, Japan in 1995. The death toll resulting from natural disasters in the region are presented in Table 4.


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Table 4

Death Toll from Natural Disaster

Country CR Stations

What was the extent of damage in the community that your station serves?

A. Approx. no. of human lives that were lost:

B. Approximate number of deaths among:

Children Women Elderly Disabled Foreigners

Australia SCMA 2

India St. Aloysius College 25 13 3 9

Indonesia

Al-Jumhur 30 Angkringan 500 Darsa FM 200 100 40 40 20

Gema Nusa FM 5 1 1 3 Rakom Gusit 900

Japan FM Nagaoka 68 FM Tajima 7

FMYY 6434 2133 226 250

Nepal

Baglung FM 29 Bheri Awaz 10 3 2 5 Bheri FM 5

ECR 12 4 5 3 Jagaran 2 2 Lumbini 2 2

Madan Pokhara 14 2 5 7 Mahakali 10 3 4 3

Madhyapurva 10 6 2 2 Madiseti FM 3 3 Samad FM 12 4 3 5

Sri Lanka Kothmale 15 5 4 6

Total 8295 141 69 2223 246 250

From the above table it clearly evident that casualty is highest amongst the elderly (2223 numbers), the disabled (246 numbers) and children (141 numbers). Though the death toll amongst foreigners is high (250 numbers) it was a one time occurrence during the Kobe earthquake in Japan in 1995. The number of houses that collapsed following the natural disaster was 80% of the existing houses of a village (Bantul in Indonesia) to 610,000 houses in Kobe, Japan. The maximum number of population displaced by the natural disaster was 90% in Nias, North Sumatra, Indonesia following the earthquake in March, 2005. The general loss of property from a natural disaster ranged from USD 1000/- in Sindhuli district of Nepal from flood, landslide and lightning following the monsoons in August, 2008 to 20 Billion USD in Nagaoka-shi, Niigata, Japan from an earthquake that occurred in October, 2004. The damage to the community radio stations following a natural disaster is presented in Table 5.


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Table 5

Damage to Community Radio Station

Question Options Responses Received Percentage Remarks

Extent of damage to community

radio station by the natural

disaster

Completely destroyed 1 4% Broadcasting equipment was partially

damaged (FM Nagaoka) No damage to the station but cable at transmit point destroyed hence no broadcast for 3 days (FM Tajima), Electricity supply was damaged (Radio Beri Awaz and Radio Bheri FM) Started after the disaster (Darsa FM, Rakum Dusit, FMYY)

Partially damaged 7 26%

None damaged 19 70%

Out of twenty-seven (27) community radio stations responding to this question only one (1) community radio station namely Angkringan in Bantul, Indonesia was completely destroyed. Broadcasting equipment like transmitter and computer were the usual damages at the station but often it was the disruption of electricity that hampered transmission of regular programmes. Following a natural disaster twenty four (24) community radio stations reported not having lost staff while four (4) stations had lost staff to some disaster or the other. While it took only 24 hours for a Radio Bheri FM in Nepalgunj, Nepal to resume broadcasting after a natural disaster, it took five (5) months for Radio Rapti situated in Salyan, west Nepal to repair damaged radio transmitter, satellite receiver, microphone and telephone set. To the question of having/ not having a manual or plan document to deal with natural disaster and electricity backup, the responses from the respective community radios are tabulated in Table 6.


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Table 6 Manual Dealing with Natural Disaster and Electricity Backup

Question Options Responses

Received Percentage

Manual or a plan document to deal with

natural disasters

Yes 14 44%

No 18 56%

Remarks

Not always useful, experience and practical know how important (FM Nagaoka) Made manual after typhoon for use by staff (FM Tajima)

Have a power generator in case of electricity failure?

Yes 15 47%

No 17 53%

Remarks Available for 12 hours (FM Tajima) Not sufficient for station (Bheri FM)

Building/house in which CR station is located specially designed to withstand a specific

extent of natural disaster

Yes 11 34%

No 21 66%

Shift location following a

natural disaster Yes 7 25% No 21 75%

Fifty six percent (18 numbers) of the community radio stations did not have a manual or plan document to deal with natural disaster. Though forty seven percent (15 numbers) of stations did have power generator in case of electricity failure, it was not always sufficient and available for long duration. Sixty six percent (21 numbers) of community radios informed that the building housing the station is not specifically designed to withstand a specific natural disaster while only 25 percent (7 numbers) of community radio station had shifted location following a natural disaster. To prevent future losses at the radio station following a natural disaster the precautions taken by the community radios are listed in Table 7.

Table 7

Measures to Abate Future Disasters

Question Options Total Responses Percentage

Special measures taken after the last

occurrence of natural disaster, to prevent similar losses at the

radio station in future incidents of natural

disaster

Training of staff to deal with natural disaster situations 17 56%

Reinforcement of the building housing the station 5 17%

Shifting the location of the building 2 7%

Nothing substantial 6 20%

Fifty six percent (17 numbers) of community radios conducted training for staff to deal with natural disaster while seventeen percent (5 numbers) of stations had reinforced the building


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in which the station was housed. Twenty percent (6 numbers) of community radios had not done anything substantial following a natural disaster while only two (7%) community radios had shifted location after a natural disaster. The most common plan amongst the community radio stations to minimize the damage by a natural disaster in the near future was to train staff on natural disaster management, create awareness and broadcast relevant information regarding the natural disaster common to the area of operation. Though the desire was to have “an up to date information on climate to be broadcasted to the community” such information is not always available to the community radio operators as seen in the case of Radio Rakambia located in Dilli, East Timor. Again some stations are located in area where a natural disaster like lightning is of common occurrence; the station cannot do much apart from installing lightning arrestors as done by Radio Sinduligadi in Sindhuli, Nepal. To the question of what the community radios wished to learn in terms of natural disaster management are presented in Table 8.

Table 8 Learning for Disaster Management

Twenty four (17%) community radio stations wanted to learn how to provide regular surveillance news to the community to make them aware of impending disaster and twenty three (16%) wanted to know how to prepare station staff and volunteers for dealing with natural disasters, while twenty (14%) of the community radio stations wished to know how best to engage with community to provide immediate relief. Nineteen (13%) of the community radios wanted to know how to engage with the community to contribute in the rebuilding of the community, local government offices and other organizations while eighteen

Wha

t do

you

wan

t to

lear

n on

the

role

of C

R in

dis

aste

r m

anag

emen

t?

Options No. of responses Percentage

A. How to minimize damage to the station at times of natural disaster? 15 10%

B. How to restart broadcasting at times of natural disaster? 14 9%

C. How to prepare the station staff and volunteers for dealing with natural disasters? 23 16%

D. How to reconstruct the station quickly following a natural disaster? 13 9%

E. How best to engage with the community to provide immediate relief? 20 14%

F. How to engage with the community to contribute in the rebuilding of the community, local government offices and other organizations?

19 13%

G. How to help community members locate members of family that have been lost or are displaced?

18 12%

H. How to provide regular surveillance news to the community to make them aware of impending disaster?

24 17%


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(12%) wanted to gain knowledge to help community members locate members of family that have been lost or are displaced. Out of the thirty four community radio stations surveyed 10 (29%) of them wanted to gain knowledge on all the above listed eight options on disaster management.


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SECTION THREE Programme and Network Related to Natural Disaster This section of the questionnaire explored how community radios responded to emergencies, their specific programmes, in what way did they get involved during the rehabilitation and reconstruction phase and did they broadcast any programmes related to pre disaster. 3.1. Dealing with emergency response Questioning if the community radios had held a meeting with the community following a natural disaster, it was reported that thirteen community radios (43%) out of the thirty four community radios surveyed had done so. The objective and the frequency of such a meeting as responded by some of the community radios are presented in Table 9.

Table 9 Objectives of the meeting held following natural disaster

Country Name Objective of the Meeting Frequency of meeting/ Part of work plan?

Indonesia

Angkringan Sustaining the CR

Darsa FM Share useful information about tsunami and earthquake.

We share information on how to safeguard from natural disaster, especially tsunami and earthquake. What must be the first thing people have to do if disaster happens?

Gema Nusa FM

Evaluate damage, plan to solve impact, trauma healing

Radio activists are members of community forum, so they are always involved in the community meeting especially those dealing with how to face the impact of disaster

Gita Swara FM

Make strategy how to deal with earthquake to minimise damage & victims

Yes part of work plan and try to meet with community often

Lintas Merapi To share role and responsibility Once a day

Japan FMYY Help victims especially foreign victims

We have meeting with some community groups and NGOs everyday. Of course it was one of regular work plan.

Nepal

Appan Mithila

Role of CR in community during floods & how to help victims

What is the role of community radio during floods? And how to manage the victims and community from the floods?

Baglung FM To collect the information, prepare news, articles to share information about the disaster and motivate to collect needed materials for victims

Staffs visit communities time and again to discuss the role of community radio. They collect information at the time of natural disaster. But special plan for natural disaster has not been prepared.

Bheri Awaz How to safeguard oneself from the disaster and how to provide rescue

How to be secure from natural disaster and how to save people and lives

ECR To make them aware of the impending disaster and to teach them relief measures

To make them aware of the impending disaster, teach them relief work and to share timely information about natural disaster.

Jagaran How to provide immediate relief, how to minimise risk and create awareness of disaster and possible rescue procedures

The key objectives of the meeting with affected community were about how to make immediate relief for the affected population, how to minimise risk for near future and distant future, how to make people aware of possibilities of disasters and rescue procedures etc.

Madhyapurva To make them aware of the impending disaster and to teach them relief measures

To make them aware of the impending disaster, teach them relief work and to share timely information about natural disaster.

Samad FM How to solve the problem


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The common objective of such a meeting following a natural disaster was how to provide immediate relief, share and collect information on the disaster and provide relief. Though only two community radios have reported that such meetings with the community are regular part of their work plan, it can be incurred that such meetings are frequent as most community members are part of the station and staff visit the community regularly so informal meetings and feedbacks are common features. To determine if there was a change in the programmes broadcasted by the community radios following a natural disaster and what were those changes, the responses received has been tabulated in Table 10.


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Table 10 Programmes changed following a natural disaster

The responses reflect that the common practice is to broadcast information about situation related to the natural disaster risk and impact (33%) followed by information related to missing persons and information about weather and the natural disaster potential (both 19%) followed by logistic distribution (15%) and trauma healing (14%) respectively. Delving further into programmes specifically for women and children, 68% (21 numbers) of community radios had specific programmes for them as evident from table 11.

Table 11 Programmes for Women and Children

Question Options Responses Received Percentage

In what way was the programming

of the station changed

following the natural disaster? Or, what kind of

special programmes were

produced and broadcast to

address immediate relief

and re-building of the community?

Information related to missing persons 11 19%

Logistic distribution 9 15%

Trauma healing 8 14%

Information about situation related to the natural

disaster risk and impact 19 33%

Information about weather and natural disaster

potential 11 19%

Others

1. Information about recovery process (FM Tajima) 2. Mutual understanding between minority and majority (FMYY) 3. Timely notice on potential natural disasters (Radio Jagaran)


Transmit programmes to deal with women and

children

Yes 21 68%

Not specifically 8 26%

No 2 6%

What specific issues

regarding women and children are addressed

Specific needs of women, children, disabled people and foreigners 13 32%

Specific facilities for women, children, disabled people and foreigners 8 20%

Reproductive and sexual health issues 12 30%

Others: 7 18%


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Programmes addressing the specific needs of women, children, disabled people and foreigners were favoured at 32% followed by reproductive and sexual heath issue programmes (30%) and then programmes on specific facilities for women, children, disabled people and foreigners (20%). When it came to off air activities, the community radios scored highest on holding community meetings and mobilizing/organizing voluntary groups at 29% each. Their response on the different off-air activities is presented in Table 12.

Table 12 Off Air Activities


Off-air activities arranged

for natural disaster

response

Community meetings 12 29%

Mobilize or organize voluntary groups 12 29%

Distribution of goods and logistic arrangements 4 10%

Provide fund to re-build the studio/station 1 2%

Provide new equipment (to replace the damaged equipment) 3 7%

Provide fund to organize voluntary groups for logistics distribution

3 7%

Arrange trauma healings: 6 16%

Others:

Construct temporary housing, create mutual understanding between different groups of people (FMYY) Broadcasted news with full information, requested other organizations to provide help, participated in concerned meetings, etc. (Baglung FM)


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Some community radios were involved at construction of temporary housing (FMYY, Japan) and networked with other organizations for relief efforts (Baglung FM, Nepal). Coming to the kind of technologies and communication devices that community radios used to respond to natural disaster, cellular phones was the preferred option at 29% followed by internet at 22%. The different options used and their preference are listed below in Table 13.

Table 13 Preference of Technology and Communication Devises

Traditional methods like personal visits, letters and field mikes are still in use while wireless internet technology is being adopted (Kothmale Community Radio). Collaboration was often with other NGOs, local leaders and local government to provide relief support and at times even raise funds through fan club (Gita Swara FM, Indonesia). Collaborations with the various local government authorities and with non governmental authorities are tabulated below.

Question Options Responses Received Percentage Specifications

Kind of technology and communication devices used to

respond to natural disaster

Communication radio (VHF or

UHF) 13 21%

Internet access 14 22% Cellular phones 18 29%

Printed materials 11 18%

Traditional methods 6 10%

Visit and request them to send letters and messages through post (Baglung FM), use field mikes (Radio Jagaran) and mobilizing the network (Madan Pokhara)

Others:

Fax (FM Nagaoka & FMYY) CDMA, sky mobile, spot news collection (Panchakoshi FM) Telephone/internet, WipLL wireless internet, mobile radio station (http://www.etuktuk.net) (Kothmale Community Radio)


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Table 14

Collaborations

As seen from Table 14, the health office was the most collaborated local government office at 23% while NGOs was the preferred option at 17% for non-governmental office. The most notable support activity received by the stations from other sectors/groups related to specific cooperation for the on-air programme productions was input material for information for on-air programmes at 39% (16 numbers). The various support activity and their ratings are shown in Table 15.

Groups or stakeholders collaborated with to carry out the on-air programme

A. L

ocal

gov

ernm

ent a

utho

ritie

s

Options Responses Received Percentage

B. N

on g

over

nmen

t org

anis

atio

ns


Health office 18 23% Red Cross: local

and/or international

13 13%

Education office 9 12% Commercial

broadcast: local or network

station

9 9%

Social office 11 14% Other

community radio stations

13 13%

Public works office 11 14% Voluntary groups 13 13% Weather,

Meteorology & Geophysics

Information Office

6 7% Community Groups 13 13%

Emergency response

coordination office 10 13% INGO's: 13 13%

Communication office (Public

media) 13 17% NGO's: 17 17%

Others:

Gov. prefecture & city, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure & Transport, news source, weather net, NHK (FM Tajima)

Donor agency: 4 4% Local informal

leaders (if any),: 5 5%

Others:

Newspaper, hospital (FM Nagaoka) Community media (FM Tajima) Catholic Church (FMYY)


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Table 15 Support Received for On-Air Programmes

Fund for data collection and journalistic activity and resource person for specific air programmes were also well supported at 17% each followed by technical assistance or capacity building for air programme production at 15%. It was found that in 66% (19 numbers) of community radio victims of natural disaster or internally displaced persons (IDPs) had responded to the programmes aired. The programmes and their response during times of disaster have been given below.

Table 16

Responses to Programmes


Did victims/listeners/IDPs respond to CR on-air

programme

Yes 19 66%

Not directly 10 34%

Kind of programmes that received

responses

Information related to missing persons 8 21%

Logistic distribution 6 15% Trauma healing 3 8%

Information about situation related to the natural disaster risk and impact 11 28%

Information about weather and natural disaster potential 11 28%

Others: Institution of relief (FMYY) News (Madiseti FM)


Support activity received from

other sectors/groups

related to specific cooperation for

the on-air programme productions

Input material for information for on-air programme 16 39%

Fund for data collection and journalistic activity 3 7%

Radio receivers for listeners 7 17%

Technical assistance or capacity building for air programme

productions 6 15%

Resource person for specific air programmes 7 17%

Fund for air programme productions 2 5%

Others: Assistance received but not for specific activities of disaster management (Baglung FM) radio equipment (Khoun Radio for Development)


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Programmes sharing information about situation related to the natural disaster risk and impact and information about weather and natural disaster potential were well received at 28% during times of disaster followed by programmes with information related to missing persons (21%). An insight into the some specific responses received during natural disasters reveal the link that these stations have established with the community. For example listeners of some community radios were disappointed when the broadcasting stopped due to electricity failure or damage to the station, the broadcast from the radios provided solace to the bereaved, a phone call from a child during live programmes helped to rescue a family by the relief team and people called the CR station to find out if the highway was cleared. Some interesting responses have been given below.

Table 17 Specific Responses

Country Stations Specific Responses

Indonesia Al-Jumhur Thank you from community

Japan

FM Nagaoka Responded well to the RJ whom the victims knew well

FM Tajima Disappointed when broadcast stopped. Relied on CR & relieved when broadcasting resumed for local information.

FMYY Entertainment programme especially at night offered mental and spiritual sustenance to the victims

Nepal

Baglung FM Workers and volunteers are active & helpful, change in people's behaviour, motivated on hearing news update, number of CR listeners have increased, etc.

Bheri FM A child called in live programme to inform that he and his family are trapped after which they were rescued by relief team

ECR People called CR station to find out if the highway was opened or not. Over 500 calls of inquiry were attended by the CR.

Madhyapurva Listeners called to know the status of the highway. More than 100 inquiry calls were entertained by the CR station

The most common tool used to measure these responses was phone calls or through short mail service (SMS) at 34% (19 numbers). The different tools used by the community radios to measure responses to the programmes have been presented in Table 18.

Table 18

Tools to Measure Community Response

Tool

s us

ed to

mea

sure

co

mm

unity

resp

onse


A. Polling/ Questionnaire distribution 2 3%

B. Random interview 8 14%

C. Evaluation meeting 6 11%

D. Initiated by people

By directly coming to the studio 15 27%

Response sent through phone call/SMS 19 34%

Responded through email/internet 6 11%

Others: Visiting listeners (FMYY)


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Often the listeners directly came to the studio (27%) demonstrating the close link between the station and the community it serves. 14% of the responses were collected by the stations through random interview. 59% (16 numbers) of stations had women responding to the programmes and often related to health, reproductive issues, children and awareness programmes. Some of the responses received for their women related programme have been given below:

Table 19 Programmes Responded by Women

Country Stations Programmes Responded to by Women

Indonesia

Angkringan Health/reproduction Darsa FM Health reproduction through talk programme

Gita Swara FM Short information on how women, especially housewives could be safe during earthquakes

Lintas Merapi Related to children's education

Rakom Gusit How to protect children during natural disaster and issues of domestic violence

Laos Khoun CR 4D Women and Development

Nepal

Baglung FM Aawaj (Voice of Women), Chetana ko Diyo (Lamp of Awareness) Nari (Woman)

Bheri Awaz "yathartha" and" belako aawaj" Bheri FM Phone in programmes related to community and family

ECR Prakritic Prakop Madhyapurva Prakritic Prakop Radio Rapti Naya bato naya paila, youba pusta Samad FM Health and crime

Sindhuligadi Aadha Akaash


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3.2. Programme and Network Related with Rehabilitation and Reconstruction (RR)

Phase

The involvement of the community radio stations during the rehabilitation and reconstruction phase was mostly in sharing information and in organising community meetings as evident from the following table 20.

Table 20

Responses of CRs during Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Phase

Though 27% (17 numbers) of the community radio stations were airing news and information about the RR programmes 25% (16 numbers) were dedicated to building awareness and engagement with the RR programmes. The off air activities of the community radios during the rehabilitation and reconstruction phase was to do advocacy work, provide trauma healing and even creating a website for disaster communication as done by Kothmale Community Radio.

Question Options Responses Received % Question Options Responses

Received %

In w

hat w

ay w

as th

e pr

ogra

mm

ing

of th

e st

atio

n ch

ange

d w

hen

reha

bilit

atio

n an

d re

cons

truc

tion

phas

e st

arte

d

Programmes for monitoring

the RR process

12 19%

Off-

air a

ctiv

ities

arr

ange

d fo

r RR

resp

onse

Community meeting for monitoring

the RR process

13 54%

News and information

about the RR programme

17 27%

Advocacy related to the RR

programme

11 46%

Programmes for mental healthcare

6 10%

Others:

Training for trauma healing (Gema Nusa), devoted to providing information (FM Nagaoka), created a website for disaster communication www.kothmale.org/disaster (Kothmale CR)

Programmes for improving

social life 12 19%

Programmes for building awareness

about engagement with the RR programme

16 25%


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3.3. Programme and Network Related with Pre-disaster

Table 21 Programmes on Pre-Disaster

Question Options Responses

Received Percentage

Did CR station broadcast any

specific programmes

to make listeners

aware about natural

disasters

Building awareness about the potent natural disaster risk in the area 17 40%

How can you minimize the natural disaster risk 14 34%

Information and news about weather, climate and other issues related to the natural disaster from

an early warning system perspective

11 26%

Others Broadcasting some PSA to warn about floods (Bheri FM)

From the above table 21, 40% of community radios have programmes on building awareness about the potent natural disaster risk in the area and 34% share information on how to minimize the natural disaster risk. Only 26% of the community radio stations surveyed have access to information and news about the weather, climate and other issues related to the natural disaster from an early warning system perspective even though the region is prone to natural disasters.


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SECTION FOUR Training and Capacity Building of Community Radios on Disaster Risk Reduction

Table 22


Assistance received from donors or NGOs to rebuild the station

after the natural disaster

Yes 7 23%

No 23 77%

Staff and volunteers trained to deal with

natural disaster situations

Yes 14 50%

No 14 50%

Trained volunteers Female 21 25%

Male 64 75%

Trained staff Female 23 33%

Male 46 67%

Out of the 30 community radios who responded, 77% (23 numbers) had not received any kind of assistance from a donor or an NGO following a natural disaster. It was encouraging to note that at least 50% of the community radio stations had staff and volunteers trained to deal with natural disaster situations. It was reported that 75% of male volunteers and 33% of full time female staff were trained and capable of providing disaster relief.


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CONCLUSION: The survey questionnaire was sent out to all the community radios in the Asia Pacific region and responses were received from Afghanistan, Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Nepal and Sri Lanka. The gender staff composition in the community radios surveyed is encouraging with 60% male including both full time staff and volunteers and 40% female though it leaves room for further improvement. The broadcast area coverage of the community radios though varied seems to be catering to the community they set up to serve. Landslide is the most common natural disaster followed by earthquake and floods, though flash flood is also of regular occurrence in the region. The death toll from natural disaster is highest amongst the elderly followed by the disabled and children. The damages to property have run into billions of US dollars depending on the scale of the natural disaster and the location. Usually the main damage at the community radio stations from natural disaster has been equipments; though stations did report loss of staff to natural disaster. To repair damages and begin broadcasting can take less than twenty four hours to months depending on the damage and the location of the station. More than half of the community radios surveyed reported not having a manual or a plan document to deal with natural disaster nor a power generator for backup during such times. More than sixty percent (60%) of the community radio stations are housed in buildings that are not specifically designed to withstand a specific natural disaster while only few (7 numbers) of community radio station had shifted location following a natural disaster. To prevent future losses at the radio station following a natural disaster more than half of the community radios surveyed had conducted training for staff to deal with natural disaster. The preferred plan to combat future disaster was through training of staff on natural disaster management, create awareness and broadcast relevant information regarding the natural disaster common to the area of operation. Most of the community radios wished to learn how to provide regular surveillance news to the community to make them aware of impending disaster and how to prepare the station staff and volunteers for dealing with natural disasters. A common practice amongst the CR stations is to hold meeting with the community following a natural disaster with the agenda of providing immediate relief, share and collect information on the disaster. Though only a few community radios have reported that such meetings with the community as regular part of their work plan, it can be incurred that such meetings are common as community members are part of the station and staff visit the community frequently so informal meetings and feedbacks are regular features. The practice of programme broadcasts following a natural disaster is to share information about situation related to the natural disaster risk, its impact along with information related to missing persons and further information on weather and the natural disaster potential. All the surveyed community radios except three did not have programmes for women and children especially related to natural disaster. The main role of community radio related to off air-activities during natural disaster was to hold community meetings and organize voluntary groups. This highlights the close link that the stations shares with the community in order to mobilize it.


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The adaptation of the community radios in the region to the developing technologies can be inferred from the preferred use of devices like the cellular phone and the internet though traditional methods like personal visits, letters and field mikes are still in vogue. Collaboration was often with the health office, local governments and NGOs during times of natural disaster, and support was received mostly for input material for information for the on-air programmes. More than 66% of victims or internally displaced persons (IDPs) responded to the programmes aired demonstrate the value of community radio even at times of natural disaster. The most responded programmes at such times is understandably about situation related to the natural disaster risk and impact, information about weather and natural disaster potential and information related to missing persons. The most used tool to measure responses was phone calls or through short mail service (SMS) but here also the link with the community can be established by the fact that it is a common practice among listeners to directly come to the studio to give their feedback. The involvement of the community radio stations during the rehabilitation and reconstruction phase was mostly in sharing information by way of airing news about the RR programmes and in organising community meetings for advocacy as part of off-air activities during the rehabilitation and reconstruction phase. Following various natural disasters in the region about 40% of community radios have programmes on building awareness about the potent natural disaster risk in the area and 34% give information on how to minimize the natural disaster risk. More than 77% of community radios had not received any kind of assistance from a donor or an NGO following a natural disaster. It is encouraging to note that at least 50% of the community radio stations have staff and volunteers trained to deal with natural disaster situations though it would beneficial to make it cent percent.


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RECOMMENDATIONS: As the study was done at community radio level, some recommendations are put forth for them to consider. The community radios are suggested to follow through some of the activities mentioned below:

1. Conduct natural disaster management training and refresher courses as well for all staff at the station

2. Establish links with relevant offices like the meteorological stations and I/NGOs who have information on the natural disaster common to the area from an early warning perspective.

3. Broadcast programmes with information on both pre and post natural disaster situation

4. Produce and air specific programmes related to women, children and elderly for natural disaster management.

5. If possible mobilize voluntary community groups for natural disaster relief drills and provide first aid training for such situations in collaboration with local or international Red Cross.

The survey has also come up with some issues: 1. Though most of these natural disaster are an annual affair, why has there not been

sufficient training and focus on disaster management? 2. Why does an information system with a clear guideline not exist for people to follow

through at times of natural disaster? 3. Why do governments and civil society not work in unison for providing disaster

trainings, relief and management to make effective use of resources and time? 4. Why is relevant information pertaining to natural disaster still scarce when the

advancement and development of technology has increased by leaps and bounds?


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ANNEX 1

Survey Form

Survey on the Practices of Community Radios In Disaster Management Situations

The following questionnaire is designed to understand how community radios have dealt with or plan to deal with situations of natural disasters such as floods, flash floods, landslides, earth quake, tsunamis, etc. The outcome of this survey will be used to design the curriculum for a training of trainers on the role of community radio in disaster management. Please send back the completed form by August, 31, 2008 to (Ade’s address for Indonesian respondents, Tetsuo’s address for Japanese respondents and Suman’s for the rest). In responding to the queries, please use the given options. In case of subjective queries, please limit your answer to 75 words maximum. Please mark in colour the answers of your choice for the choice questions.

Questionnaire:

A. General information about the community radio station 1. Name of the community radio station: 2. Full details of the contact person:

A. Name of person: B. Position in the station: C. Street address of the station (including city and country): D. Email address of the person: E. Phone number (office) and (mobile):

3. How many people work in your CR station?

F. Full time staff: Female…........Male………... (if any) G. Part time staff: Female…........Male………... (if any) H. Volunteers: Female… ........Male……….. ....

4. How many hours do you broadcast every day?

5. What is the area covered by your radio station’s broadcast? Please mention in terms of square kilometres and/or number of population coverage. B. Past experience in dealing with natural disasters: 6. Which are the main type(s) of natural disaster that your area mostly experiences or is

most likely to experience?


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A. Tsunami B. Floods C. Flash floods D. Earthquake E. Volcanic eruptions F. Landslides G. Any other: (please specify)

7. When was the last time a natural disaster struck your community?

A. Type of natural disaster: B. Date of natural disaster:

8. What was the extent of damage in the community that your station serves?

A. Approximate number of human lives that were lost: B. Approximate number of deaths among:

a. Children: b. Women: c. Elderly: d. Disable people e. Foreigners

C. Approximate number of collapsed houses D. Size of the population of the community that the stations reaches/serves: E. Approximate % of population that was displaced by the disaster: F. What was the general estimate of the loss (in US$) of property in the area?

9. How was your community radio station affected by the natural disaster?

A. Completely destroyed B. Partially damaged C. None damaged

10. What was the main damage at the station? Please reply in 50 words or less. 11. Did any station staff or volunteer lose their life or got badly injured owing to the natural

disaster? A. Yes B. No

12. How many days/week/month did it take for the radio station to be back in service after

the natural disaster? 13. What special measures have you taken after the last occurrence of natural disaster, to

prevent similar losses at the radio station in future incidents of natural disaster? A. Training of staff to deal with natural disaster situations B. Reinforcement of the building housing the station C. Shifting the location of the building D. Nothing substantial

14. What was the major lacking on the part of the station in dealing with the natural disaster? A. In terms of minimizing the damage to the station: B. In terms of helping the community and especially the vulnerable population of the

community (meaning children, women and elderly): 15. What specific plans have you made to minimize the damage by a natural disaster in

future? Please reply in 50 words or less.


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16. Do you have a manual or a plan document to deal with natural disasters? a. Yes b. No

17. Do you have a power generator in case of electricity failure?

18. Is the building or house in which your station is located specially designed to withstand a

specific extent of natural disaster? a. Yes b. No

19. Did you shift to this location following a natural disaster? a. Yes b. No

20. What do you want to learn on the role of community radio in disaster management? A. How to minimize damage to the station at times of natural disaster? B. How to restart broadcasting at times of natural disaster? C. How to prepare the station staff and volunteers for dealing with natural disasters? D. How to reconstruct the station quickly following a natural disaster? E. How best to engage with the community to provide immediate relief? F. How to engage with the community to contribute in the rebuilding of the

community, local government offices and other organizations? G. How to help community members locate members of family that have been lost

or are displaced? H. How to provide regular surveillance news to the community to make them aware

of impending disaster? C. Programme and Network related to Natural Disaster C.1. Dealing with emergency response

21. Did you organize a meeting with the community following the natural disaster and what

were the key objectives of that meeting? a. Yes b. No

22. What were the objectives of the meeting? Please answer in less than 50 words.

23. How often do the staffs of the station meet with members of the community to discuss

the role of the community radio station during times of natural disaster? Is such meetings part of your regular work plan? Please answer in less than 50 words.

24. In what way was the programming of the station changed following the natural disaster?

Or, what kind of special programmes were produced and broadcast to address immediate relief and re-building of the community? You can choose more than one option.

A. Information related to missing persons B. Logistic distribution C. Trauma healing D. Information about situation related to the natural disaster risk and impact E. Information about weather and natural disaster potential F. Others: ..............................................


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25. Does your CR broadcast programme (s) to deal with issues related to women and

children? A. Yes B. Not specifically C. None

26. If yes, can you specify what specific issues regarding women and children are addressed? A. Specific needs of women, children, disabled people and foreigners B. Specific (public) facilities for women, children, disabled people and foreigners C. Reproductive and sexual health issues D. Others: ..........................................

27. What kind of technology and communication devices that you or your community radio

used to respond natural disaster? A. Communication radio (VHF or UHF) B. Internet access C. Cellular telephones D. Printed materials E. Traditional methods (please specify): F. Others:

28. What kind of off-air activity did you arrange for natural disaster response? A. Community meetings B. Mobilize or organize voluntary groups C. Distribution of goods and logistic arrangements D. Provide fund to re-build the studio/station E. Provide new equipment (to replace the damaged equipment) F. Provide fund to organize voluntary groups for logistics distribution G. Arrange trauma healings: H. Others:

29. Did your radio station collaborate with the local government and/or local NGO's or other stakeholders such as temples/church/mosques, local leaders, etc., for providing relief after the disaster struck? If yes, what kind of work did you do together? Please answer in less than 50 words.

30. What groups or stakeholders you collaborated with to carry out the on-air programme?

A) Local government authorities a. Health office b. Education office c. Social office d. Public works office e. Weather, Meteorology and Geophysics Information Office f. Emergency Response Coordination Office g. Communication office (Public media) h. Others:

B) Non-Government organizations:

a. Red Cross: local and/or international b. Commercial broadcast: local or network station c. Other community radio stations d. Voluntary groups


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e. Community Groups f. International NGO's: g. NGO's: h. Donor agency: i. Local informal leaders (if any), please specify: j. Others:

31. What kind of support activity did your station receive from other sectors/groups related to

specific cooperation for the on-air programme productions?

A. Input material for information for on-air programme B. Fund for data collection and journalistic activity C. Radio receivers for listeners D. Technical assistance or capacity building for air programme productions E. Resource person for specific air programmes F. Fund for air programme productions G. Others:

32. Did the victims/listeners/IDPs (Internal Displaced Person) respond to your CR on-air

programme? A. Yes B. Not directly

33. If yes, what kind of programme did they respond to? You can select more than one

option: A. Information related to missing persons B. Logistic distribution C. Trauma healing D. Information about situation related to the natural disaster risk and impact E. Information about weather and natural disaster potential F. Others:

34. Please list some specific response received: 35. What tools did you use to measure the community response?

A. Polling/Questionnaire distribution B. Random interview C. Evaluation meeting D. Initiated by people

a. By directly coming to the studio b. Response sent through telephone call/SMS c. Responded through email/internet d. Others:

36. Did women groups have any specific response regarding the programme you aired or

undertook? A. Yes B. No

37. If yes, what is the on-air programme (name or theme) to which women responded?

38. What type of response did you receive from the women group? Please answer briefly.


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C.2. Programme and network related with rehabilitation and reconstruction (RR)

phase

39. In what way was the programming of the station changed when rehabilitation and reconstruction phase started? Or, what kind of special programmes were produced and broadcasts to address the rehabilitation and reconstruction (RR) process? (you can choose more than one option)

A. Programmes for monitoring the RR process B. News and information about the RR programme C. Programmes for mental healthcare D. Programmes for improving social life E. Programmes for building awareness about engagement with the RR

programme F. Others:

40. What off-air activity did you arrange for RR response?

A. Community meeting for monitoring the RR process B. Advocacy related to the RR programme C. Others:

C.3. Programme and network related with pre-disaster

41. Did your radio station broadcast any specific programmes to make listeners aware about natural disasters? If yes, please select the type of programme that was broadcast. You can select more than one option: :

A. Building awareness about the potent natural disaster risk in the area B. How can you minimize the natural disaster risk C. Information and news about weather, climate and other issues related to the

natural disaster from an early warning system perspective D. Others:

D. Training and Capacity Building of CR on Disaster Risk Reduction

1. Did you receive assistance from donors or NGOs to rebuild the station after the natural disaster?

a. Yes b. No

2. Are all or some of your staffs and volunteers trained to deal with natural disaster situations?

a. Yes b. No

3. How many among the trained personnel are women and men:

A. Trained volunteers: Female ………….Male……….. B. Trained staff: Female………… Male………….

-END-

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