Media Statement on Disaster Risk Reduction

International, national and local media play an important and fundamental role in promoting disaster risk reduction policies and in advancing the disaster risk reduction agendas at global, national and local level. Media are active actors in the early warning chain and essential partners to help educating communities and promote disaster risk reduction messages to different audiences. They are also key in providing better responses to disaster affected communities.

Media recognize the increasing importance of disaster risk reduction issues in current affairs and the power of information in building the resilience of people against increasing climate change and all natural hazards negative impacts.

Media recognize the role they can play in informing and educating people about the disaster risks they are facing and are willing to work closer with global, national and local disaster risk reduction,actors, partners and decision makers to keep their audience informed and save more lives and protect more assets against natural hazards.

Since the last Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in 2019 in Switzerland, media in particular through the World Broadcasting initiative, launched by UNDRR in 2020 together with WMO,IOC-UNESCO and ITU and five Broadcasting Unions namely ABU, AUB, CBU, EBU, ASBU remain firmly committed to accelerate the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030.

Media organizations present at The seventh session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GP2022) in Bali, Indonesia from 23 to 28 May, 2022, convened and organized by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and hosted by the Government of Indonesia declared that media are active players in alerting, informing and educating populations at disaster risks and in taking the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction forward, and as such commit to:

• Ensure that critical communication infrastructures are in place and function when they are most needed before, during and after disasters happen
• Ensure that early warning protocols are in place in all  their media organizations to deliver accurate and timely early warning messages to communities at risk 
• Report balanced, accurate, timely disaster risk reduction information before, during and after disasters
• Prioritize the solutions proposed by disaster risk reduction policies and programmes and dedicate more time, space and resources to report more on the causes of disasters and on what can be done to prevent disasters

(within Target (D)

• Lobby national government DRR agencies to include media representatives in developing and implementing national DRR strategies and plans at national, regional and local levels
• Ensure that the physical infrastructure of radio, television, print and online media outlets is resilient and fully integrated into early warning disaster communication systems and plans at national and community levels within 2030
• Develop and implement a certification system for media organizations’ standard operating procedures for emergency situations, ensuring that they are ready to fulfil their duties when disaster strikes
• Create a UNDRR Media Advisory Group (MAG) to provide UNDRR with professional advice on how to communicate global, regional and national disaster risk reduction and preparedness efforts more effectively to the general public
• Ensure that the radio communications spectrum is preserved to serve the public interest before, during and after disasters
• Include modules on communication for disaster prevention in the curriculum of mass communication and journalism schools

Network with their media peers and journalist associations to convey the message of the Declaration of the Seventh session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in order to strengthen the resilience of communities

In conclusion:

We, reporters present at the seventh session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, and representing the following media organizations are endorsing the final declaration of the seventh session and will help promote its implementation.