International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
Public awareness and public education for disaster risk reduction: key messages
The importance of consistent messaging Research indicates that effective public education for DRR requires sustained repetition of the same messages. If messages are contradictory, inconsistent or unclear, the result is confusion, apathy, mistrust and inaction. We also know that people look for messages to be confirmed by a wide variety of authorities. So, we need to outline and articulate a broad base of key messages, and to harmonize these messages universally, while expecting and allowing for variations for different contexts, languages, cultures and means. Safety and resilience requires dramatic behaviour changes – these only become possible when the public can see that ‘everyone is doing it.’ For behavioural change messages to catch hold, people need to understand the reasons for carrying out specific measures and feel not only convinced of their effectiveness but capable of implementing them. Donors and governments are increasingly expecting harmonized messages from non-governmental organization (NGO) and government partners engaged in disaster reduction projects. However, it can be a challenge to convert the key points from a lengthy list into a hierarchy of messages, with a limited number of memorable key steps. Guidance needs to be clear, concise and scientifically sound (evidence based), with an emphasis on positive action and effectiveness. The approval of key messages by government authorities makes it easy to gain the cooperation of broadcast media for dissemination of appropriate messages before, during and after emergencies and disasters (see, for example, the OASIS CAP messages explained on p.58). National Societies and their partners are strongly encouraged to work with stakeholders to adapt harmonized national and local versions of these messages. The adaptations themselves will be needed to illustrate, fill out and explain the core concepts. We may find that it is not possible – or even desirable – to seek a single universal set of standardized messages. However, harmonizing the key messages will establish a foundation that national stakeholders can build on to standardize messages for their own contexts.
12
