Media Capacity Building and Disaster Risk Reduction: Building Resilience and Protecting Socio-Economic Development Gains in Southeast Asia

This report covers the different ways in which the media can help in building the capacity of communities to cope with adversities with specific examples in the South East Asia and their impact.  Some specific issues addressed include; communication for development, gender and disability and creating local relevance.

Funded by Australian Aid, Australian Broadcasting Corporation International Development (ABC ID) has undertaken a program of support to raise awareness and capability amongst national broadcasters from Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries to develop Emergency Broadcasting planning & systems that will enhance civic resilience and accelerate recovery.

This literature review focuses on the value of investing in building the communication capacity of broadcasters in
the ASEAN region, for the purpose of strengthening civic resilience and sustainability of socioeconomic development in the context of environmental disasters. Both are drivers for poverty alleviation. It serves as an orienting piece to the ABC ID in-country program activities that have been conducted in the Philippines, Indonesia, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. It was used as a resource to brief the program team before they conducted their field trips to apprise them of the situation in each of the countries.

The review adopts a regional perspective on disaster risk reduction and emergency broadcasting with examples of disaster communication in localised environments. It is a useful summary of information which can be used by media development practitioners, public broadcasters or those with an interest in building community resilience to emergency situations.