"This book provides new developments, innovations, and research outcomes; case studies and lessons learned; and other considerations for the creation and deployment of effective ICTs to provide humanitarian services for the resource-constrained and vulnerable populations in the world in order to imp
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rove their lives. It contains contributions from researchers, professionals in humanitarian assistance, postgraduate students, and from academia and industry, with varied backgrounds working in the area of ICTs and humanitarian services. The chapters are particularly designed as a series of independent modules, whereas each chapter explores some aspect of humanitarian services through ICTs. Topics of this book include connectivity and communications technologies for humanitarian services; ICTs in disaster mitigation, relief, and recovery; humanized and inclusive education; technologies for the women, disabled, and aged populations; IoT, big data, and blockchain for humanitarian engineering; adopting and adapting ICTs in humanitarian sectors; and other technological advancements for humanitarian assistance." (Publisher description)
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Trauma Reporting provides vital information on developing a healthy, professional and respectful relationship with those who choose to tell their stories during times of trauma, distress or grief. Amid a growing demand and need for guidance, this fascinating book is refreshingly simple, engaging and
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readable, providing a wealth of original insight. As an aspiring or working journalist, how should you work with a grieving parent, a survivor of sexual violence, a witness at the scene of a traumatic event? How should you approach people, interview them and film with them sensitively? Trauma Reporting features guidance from some of the industry's most successful news correspondents and documentary makers, including Louis Theroux, Lucy Williamson, Tulip Mazumdar, Richard Bilton, Jina Moore and many more, all sharing their experience and expertise. It also features people who chose to tell their sensitive stories to journalists, giving readers invaluable insight into what helped and what harmed. The book also includes: what your interviewees may be going through and how best to respond, by trauma expert Professor Stephen Regel; a discussion on ethics, rules and regulations by Dr Sallyanne Duncan of the University of Strathclyde; making sure you look after yourself, by Dr Cait McMahon of the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma." (Publisher description)
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"En un escenario ideal, se contaría con tiempo para hacer planes, establecer una estrategia de comunicación y una guía de acción. Pero situaciones como estas, requieren aptitudes inmediatas para comunicarse con el público. La comunicación de riesgos es un componente integral de la gestión de
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riesgos para la salud pública y una capacidad básica en el marco del Reglamento Sanitario Internacional (RSI). A continuación, se presentan algunas sugerencias, principios y plantillas para orientarlos. Proteger la salud y prevenir muertes que podemos evitar es la misión que nos convoca a todos. Una comunicación oportuna y transparente, con información correcta y basada en evidencias, pero también honesta y franca, con empatía y comprensión por las preocupaciones del público, será fundamental para que las personas conozcan los riesgos de la COVID-19 y sigan las recomendaciones de las autoridades para proteger su salud y la de sus seres queridos." (Introducción)
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"With CARE’s fourth global 'Suffering In Silence' report, we are starting to see a trend of certain countries annually remaining on the list of the most under-reported crises. While we expanded the analysis in 2019 by including Spanish and Arabic online media coverage (in addition to English, Fren
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ch and German), the results are surprisingly similar to previous years: 6 of the 10 crises had already appeared in the ranking at least twice in the past three years; 9 of the 10 crises take place on the African continent. They range from drought to displacement, conflict, epidemics and food insecurity. In order to address these recurrences, we need to ask: what are the factors that contribute to the silent suffering? The duration of a crisis may play a role, along with its effect on, or how it is affected by, international geopolitics. The European Commission defines a forgotten humanitarian crisis as a severe and protracted humanitarian situation in which people receive little to no international aid. In addition, there is a lack of political will to end the crisis as well as a lack of media attention, meaning the crisis develops beyond public perception." (Introduction, page 5)
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"Each year, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) publishes the list of the ten most neglected displacement crises in the world, to shine a spotlight on these forgotten emergencies. This is the list for 2019. Although humanitarian assistance should be based on needs alone, some crises receive more att
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ention and support than others. This neglect can be a result of a lack of geopolitical interest. Or the people affected may seem too far away for many to identify with. Neglect can also be the result of the lack of willingness to compromise by parties to political conflicts, creating protracted crises and growing donor fatigue. The aim in publishing this list is to focus on the plight of people whose suffering rarely makes international headlines. More information and knowledge about these people and the crises surrounding them is a first important step towards improving their lives. The list has been created based on three criteria: lack of political will, lack of media attention and lack of economic support. All displacement crises* resulting in more than 200,000 displaced people have been analysed – 41 crises in total." (Page 2)
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"Burkina Faso is dramatically confronted with the consequences of violence, persistent food insecurity and malnutrition. Five of the thirteen regions of the country are particularly affected, and the humanitarian situation has been steadily deteriorating since 2017 with a peak observed in the second
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half of 2019. In total, 2.2 million people face crucial unmet needs created by the deterioration of their living conditions; among them more than 918,000 people are in need of services linked to their survival. Efforts are underway to scale up the response to cope with these escalating needs. In late October 2019, the Humanitarian Country Team was activated in Burkina Faso, replacing the Humanitarian-Development Country Team, to enable dedicated leadership in coordination and information management. And between December 2019 and January 2020, the CDAC Network – in partnership with Ground Truth Solutions and with funding from the H2H Network and with the assistance of UN agencies and CDAC members operating in the country – undertook a scoping mission to the country to assess the status, current strengths and needs related to response-wide Communication, Community Engagement and Accountability." (CDAC website)
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"It has been widely agreed that national platforms for Communication and Community Engagement (CCE) are essential for making progress toward greater participation and accountability in humanitarian response. A policy paper describing this in detail was produced by the CDAC Network in 2016, supported
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by our How-To Guide for organisations interested in establishing such platforms. By ‘platforms’, the network refers to innovative coordination mechanisms that bring together community engagement activities and sit within, or influence, overall response leadership. These ensure community engagement efforts are coordinated, systemic and locally-led. This Status Update February 2020 outlines the context, leads, donors and challenges and opportunities of 23 national and regional platforms in 22 countries that are currently operating." (CDAC website)
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"Lesson one: Put people and principles at the centre of COVID-19 decision-making, not politics. Lesson two: Reframe discussions about responsibility in a pandemic so that those who are considered vulnerable are a priority rather than an afterthought. Lesson three: Prepare ways to share sophisticated
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information quickly in complex, but predictable emergencies so that knowledge, trust, and resources in the population can be leveraged when it happens. Lesson four: Have communication channels and cooperation plans for all governmental and non-governmental authorities and organisations so that the response is coordinated and understandable to the community. Lesson five: Find ways for people to get involved and have a meaningful say in the response: make this the cornerstone of any COVID-19 communication plan. Lesson six: Work to re-engage communities as participating partners; have mechanisms to leverage local and volunteer groups to maximise their knowledge expertise to increase the effectiveness of the COVID-19 response. Lesson seven: Move to more participatory, two-way communications and feedback with vulnerable communities; find out what channels they really use, not just what we want them to use. Lesson eight: Empower local agencies and communities to take a lead role in the response, so they can truly supplement the response and take charge at a local level." (Summary of lessons learned, page 2)
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"Twitter is a major tool for communication during emergencies and disasters. This study aimed to investigate Twitter use during natural hazards and pandemics. The included studies reported the role of Twitter in disasters triggered by natural hazards. Electronic databases were used for a comprehensi
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ve literature search to identify the records that match the mentioned inclusion criteria published through May 2020. Forty-five articles met the selection criteria and were included in the review. These indicated ten functions of Twitter in disasters, including early warning, dissemination of information, advocacy, assessment, risk communication, public sentiment, geographical analysis, charity, collaboration with influencers and building trust. Preventing the spread of misinformation is one of the most important issues in times of disaster, especially pandemics. Sharing accurate, transparent and prompt information from emergency organizations and governments can help. Moreover, analyzing Twitter data can be a good way to understand the mental state of the community, estimate the number of injured people, estimate the points affected by disasters and model the prevalence of epidemics. Therefore, various groups such as politicians, government, nongovernmental organizations, aid workers and the health system can use this information to plan and implement interventions." (Abstract)
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"This SSHAP Case Study illustrates how the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) worked in 2006-07 to support the Indonesian government in response to avian influenza outbreaks. The agency provided social mobilisation and education programmes to schools and villages in affected communities and p
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rovided media relations support and training for Indonesian journalists. Learning from this case study can be used by public health officials and response workers to further their understanding on how to coordinate interactions with affected communities during similar events." (Page 1)
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"This document is intended to be used as a resource bibliography for in-depth reading about risk communication best practices. It summarizes academic research and practical guidance on the topic of hazards and disaster risk communication, with a particular focus on socially vulnerable populations. I
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t is organized around three primary sections, including: 1) General Risk Communication Guidance; 2) Risk Communication and Social Vulnerability; 3) Risk Communication Across the Disaster Lifecycle. This bibliography identifies widely accepted risk communication principles that apply across the disaster lifecycle; however, the focus on social vulnerability sets it apart from other published resources on the topic of risk communication. It highlights materials that demonstrate how risk communication insights apply to a diverse array of socially vulnerable groups—defined here as those who face disproportionate disaster risk due to a variety of historical, social, economic, and political conditions." (Overview)
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"This document is intended to be used as a high-level guide for advancing risk communication best practices. It synthesizes academic research and available guidance on the topic of hazards and disaster risk communication. It draws from an array of evidence-based recommendations for effectively commu
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nicating risk across the disaster lifecycle and synthesizes them into three overarching principles: Communicate Through Familiar and Trusted Messengers; Provide Clear, Actionable Information; Tailor Message and Information Pathways for Target Audiences. Additionally, this guide integrates key insights that can be applied to communication involving socially vulnerable populations. Social vulnerability influences the capacity to anticipate, cope with, resist, and recover from the impact of a disaster. Socially vulnerable populations are thus more likely to experience disproportionate negative impacts from disasters including emotional distress, loss of property, temporary or permanent displacement, illness, and death. Rather than generate a different set of rules for engaging these groups, this document aims to highlight how general, widely accepted risk communication principles can be thoughtfully applied to populations that are often marginalized, overlooked, or difficult to reach." (Overview)
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"In the 1991 cyclones that hit Bangladesh, 90 per cent of the 140 000 victims were women. In the deadly heat waves that hit France in 2003, most fatalities were elderly women. During the 2005 Hurricane Katrina emergency in New Orleans, most of the victims were Afro-American women and their children.
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And yet again, with the COVID-19 pandemic, women are bearing the brunt; not only because they represent an estimated 70 per cent of frontline healthcare workers and undertake most of the care work in the home, but because their over-representation in the informal economy and lower pay rates mean they are significantly harder hit by the economic downturn. In such times of crises, access to accurate information is life-saving and life-changing for women, their families and their communities. Their perspectives and experiences, as well as their ability to organize, lobby and inform, can dramatically improve disaster risk management. That is why we need more innovative and culturally sensitive approaches to empowering women and girls through digital networks, platforms and technologies. With many years of experience in delivering communications in times of disasters, ITU and the other partners of the Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC) can attest to the importance and impact of such empowerment. That is why we are working to involve more women in the development of national disaster management strategies and strategic consultations on disaster preparedness and response, including for early warning systems. We hope this joint paper will go a long way towards integrating women’s needs into national disaster risk reduction frameworks, as well as in ensuring they get access to the digital tools that can play such an important role in their own safety and security, and that of their families and communities." (Foreword)
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"This module introduces disaster risk management (DRM) and provides an overview of how information and communication technologies (ICTs) can be used for DRM. A large number of examples and case studies on the applications of ICTs in DRM have been included in the module. The main objective of the mod
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ule is to introduce the basic concepts of DRM and the applications of ICTs in disaster mitigation and prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery." (Page iii)
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"Even the most sophisticated forecasting models and advanced early warning systems can be rendered ineffective if the information is not communicated clearly, on time, and in a way that allows the end-user to consider options and act appropriately. These challenges not only apply to fast onset hazar
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ds such as cyclones and tsunamis, but also to slower onset hazards such as the current COVID-19 pandemic. Around the world, governments' responses to the current pandemic provide examples of how complex and difficult successful risk communication is. This paper discusses the importance of risk communication as a critical component of early warning systems and explores the constant challenges that vulnerable communities face, how early warning systems sit within the wider Sendai Framework, and what governments have learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, and discusses how we can communicate more effectively in the future to reduce harm." (Abstract)
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"This framework lays out the multiple elements needed to successfully build and assess the performance of a national Communications and Community Engagement (CCE) Platform. These Platforms enable a broad range of government and disaster response organisations to implement coordinated communication a
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nd engagement strategies based on the belief that “information saves lives during a crisis." (Page 1)
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"Over the last two years, Fiji has worked to build a Communication and Community Engagement (CCE) platform that embeds advanced two-way communication capabilities in the national disaster response system. While it is common to think of “platforms” as a technology service, the intent here is much
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broader. While technology is an important component, today’s best-in-class national CCE “platforms” include a broad network of organisations that collaborate on communications efforts, create resources such as guides and training that support efforts, and provide governance structures that support an integrated communication framework. This is critical work. As a Pacific island nation, Fiji’s nearly 900,000 people are exposed to the ongoing threat of tropical cyclones and earthquakes. At the beginning of 2020, Fiji faced two tropical cyclones in a period of three weeks and then in April experienced land fall from the category five Tropical Cyclone Harold. These weather crises coincided with the public health challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic." (Page 1)
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"Building effective CCE capabilities is particularly important in Vanuatu, a Pacific nation spanning 83 islands, which is vulnerable to natural disasters ranging from tropical cyclones and volcanic eruptions, to disease and agricultural threats. 2020 has been a particularly challenging year for its
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300,000 citizens, with the landfall of Category 5 Tropical Cyclone Harold in April and the concurrent rise of the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the last two years, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has sponsored a programme to build sustainable next-generation CCE capability within Vanuatu. This nationally grounded initiative has been led by Vanuatu’s National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) with coordination support from the CDAC Network and Ground Truth Solutions (GTS). CARE provides additional CCE Technical Advisory and Secretariat support." (Page 1)
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"Women, the elderly, adolescents, youth, and children, persons with disabilities, indigenous populations, refugees, migrants, and minorities experience the highest degree of socio-economic marginalization. Marginalized people become even more vulnerable in emergencies. This is due to factors such as
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their lack of access to effective surveillance and early-warning systems, and health services. The COVID-19 outbreak is predicted to have significant impacts on various sectors. The populations most at risk are those that: depend heavily on the informal economy; occupy areas prone to shocks; have inadequate access to social services or political influence; have limited capacities and opportunities to cope and adapt and; limited or no access to technologies. By understanding these issues, we can support the capacity of vulnerable populations in emergencies. We can give them priority assistance, and engage them in decision-making processes for response, recovery, preparedness, and risk reduction." (Page 2)
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