Radio Reports on Problems Trigger Redressal
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Balakot. A rumor about the potential evacuation of 60,000 people from Balakot city in the early weeks after the earthquake quickly spread throughout the disaster zone. This confusion was triggered by inaccurate information about the findings of a seismic report outlining the dangers of reconstruction in the affected areas. Jazba-e-Tameer broadcast an interview with the government relief coordinator in Balakot that ended speculation about the evacuation by airing assurances that no such evacuation had been planned.
- Tariqabad, Muzaffarabad . A tent village with 10,000 people was without electricity (no light bulbs in tent) for nearly two months. After Jazba-e-Tameer produced a feature about this issue, electricity was restored within a week.
- Jijial, Kohistan . Land telephone lines were still disconnected for nearly four months after the quake in Jijial village, which has more than 10,000 inhabitants. In solidarity, large groups made more than a dozen complaints to the local authorities; however it was only after Jazba-e-Tameer gathered these complaints and presented them on air to the telecommunication officials that all lines were repaired within ten days.
- Balakot and Mansehra . Telecommunication officials issued bills in November and December 2005 for phone lines that were no longer working. Jazba-e-Tameer reported this, the report was picked up by Geo TV, and the bills were cancelled.
- Mansehra . Illegal sale of relief goods, such as tents, medication, blankets and food items by shopkeepers was discontinued after Jazba-e-Tameer interviewed the shopkeepers who admitted that their main suppliers were drivers and staff hired by relief agencies. Reporters raised this issue to with the Mansehra district police chief and checkpoints were established to ensure accountability of goods earmarked for distribution.
- Rawalakot . Sachal FM 104, an Internews partner radio, interviewed the district commissioner about reports that officials locally were charging 30 rupees for the form affected people received with their initial 25,000 rupees compensation from the government. The DC first denied the report but then came back on air later the same day to say the reports were true and he had now stopped the practice.
- Rawalakot . Sachal FM 104 carried a report about the fact that electricity had been cut off to a district in the town for 10 days and officials had made no response. A team restored electricity within 24 hours.
- Bagh . The new FM station Power 99 has been running a two-hour daily program called Aap Kay Masail (‘Your Problems') which the station manager says is designed specifically on the model of Jazba-e-Tameer and has elicited tremendous response with people calling in on specific problems and the authorities responding for redressal.
Humanitarian Information Access Improves
(Highlights of PEIP information access survey conducted in March 2006)
- Radio set ownership. 54% of respondents owned or had regular access to a radio set compared to 23% in the baseline survey in October 2005. Some have bought radios with the 25,000 rupee initial compensation offered by the government while others now have batteries for the radios they brought with them. In Rawalakot, the new FM station made a distribution of radio sets in the town.
- Take up of new radio stations. 48 of the 54 people with access to radio reported listening regularly to the new local FM stations, or 88%. Thirty, or 55%, of those with radio access, also listened to other stations such as the BBC and the state broadcaster PBC.
- Local language. Respondents reported a major reason for listening to the new stations was their extensive use across the schedule, for the first time in Pakistani broadcasting, of such local languages as Hindko and Pahari, as well as Urdu.
- Access to basic services. Although access to basic services – health services, drinking water, food, sanitary facilities, electricity, shelter, warm clothing and compensation – was generally high, 46% reported difficulty in access to one service or another, the most common problem being health services. 16% said they had not yet received the 25,000 rupee initial compensation from the government.
Institutionalized outreach to humanitarian community
- Liaison . The Jazba-e-Tameer team established weekly liaison with the following organizations: UNOCHA, UNDP, WHO, UNFPA, FAO, IOM, UNHCR, ILO, ICRC, IFRC, USAID, ERRA. Each reporter on the Jazba team tasked with gathering reports from a particular organization and others.
- Public Service Announcements . Organizations which have run PSAs include: ILO, UNDP and UNHCR.
- FM station liaison . The FM radio stations were encouraged to make contact with the humanitarian agencies, which so far include UN clusters organizations, local civil and military authorities throughout the region.
Institutionalized radio infrastructure and regular program production
- Jazba-e-Tameer . The radio program produced in Abbottabad has produced around 200 daily editions of one hour a day, covering all aspects of the emergency response. All seven of ER [emergency response] local FM stations in the earthquake affected zone play the program.
- Training for local stations . Reporters from the seven local ER FM radio stations have received training from Internews in humanitarian reporting from international consultants.
- Emergency licenses . The broadcast regulatory authority PEMRA has extended the original three month emergency licenses for the new stations in the earthquake zone to six months (June 2006). Several station managers report PEMRA has told them it intends to extend another six months beyond that, to the end of 2006, and then either renew the emergency licenses (granted free) or put them up for regular licenses (for five years, on a commercial basis).
Radio set distribution for improved information access
- Hand crank radio sets in country . 10,000 hand-crank radio sets are now in-country for distribution among affected population to improve access to humanitarian information for the reconstruction and rehabilitation phase.
- Liaison with relief organizations . Liaison with relief agencies including IOM, UNHCR, and local authorities has been established to prepare for distribution leveraging these agencies' networks, particularly among relocated communities and remote areas of the earthquake zone where need is greatest.
Advocacy and outreach
- National media coverage . PEIP has facilitated coverage of emergency response, and the need for open media policies to improve it, by national dailies The News , The Nation, The Daily Express, regional newspapers Shumal, Sarahat News, Shimla , private station Geo TV, news agency INP, and Buraq Radio in Peshawar.
- Radio stations outside the zone. As well as the seven local stations in the earthquake zone, another 10 stations receive Jazba-e-Tameer and either play it directly or use it as an information source for their own reports across Pakistan .
- International development community. The DfID magazine Developments has featured a report [click here] on the PEIP project and the lessons learned for use of local media networks to increase the efficiency of emergency response.
- Reuters. Reuters emergency response news service Alertnet has expressed interest in establishing contact with the Jazba-e-Tameer team, to use them as stringers in ongoing coverage of the humanitarian response.
- Humanitarian Exchange. The Humanitarian exchange, a twice-a-year publication of the Humanitarian Practice Network will include in its June 2006 edition a detailed article on the effectiveness of media development in post-disaster scenarios as a means of improving disaster response. The HPN is based at the UK 's Overseas Development Institute, a leading independent think tank on humanitarian and development issues.
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