Internews is implementing the Pakistan Emergency Information Project (PEIP) designed to build and support the nascent independent radio media in the earthquake affected regions of the country – Pakistan-administered Kashmir and North West Frontier Province . Funded by DFID of UK and SDC of Switzerland, PEIP addresses the reduced capacity of the local media community to provide vital information to affected populations following the devastating October 8, 2005 earthquake that killed upwards of 80,000 and displaced 3.5 million, and the communication disconnect between affected communities, the government, and private and international relief and recovery response.
Working with seven of eight non-commercial, private FM radio stations licensed by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority in the aftermath of the quake, the first time that licensed private broadcast media exists in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, PEIP aims to improve the quality and quantity of information reaching earthquake-affected communities and to facilitate the two–way flow of information via the media between these communities and the Pakistani government and private and international relief operations to improve the effectiveness of the humanitarian response.
A few weeks after the earthquake, PEIP boosted:
- Weak local journalistic and production capacity to meet the information needs of affected local populations
- Diminished or weak technical capability of affected communities to receive information
Internews has achieved this through
- The creation of a production unit to produce a daily 60-minute radio program Jazba-e-Tameer ( the Spirit of Reconstruction ), focusing on relief, recovery and rehabilitation. This program is syndicated on all seven operational FM radio stations in the region. By mid-May the 175th program had been produced.
- Technical assistance to the emergency radio stations through equipment grants and building of production facilities
- Training of the staff of the FM station in humanitarian reporting and production and journalism coverage of complex disasters
- Planned distribution of 10,000 crank-operated and solar powered radio sets to improve information access amongst the affected populations that are relocating
PEIP aims to achieve the following direct and indirect impacts on affected populations:
- Improve the quality of information reaching affected populations in terms of timeliness, accuracy, and credibility;
- Increase the relevance of information reaching local populations by including the perspectives and needs of communities impacted by the earthquake;
- Increase the reach of information to isolated, information-dark areas that have not had the support of relief efforts to date;
- Improve two-way communication flows between affected communities and the Pakistani government, civil society, and international relief operations in ways that will reinforce the effectiveness and relevance of the humanitarian response;
- Better empowerment of local populations – through the inclusion of their voices in local and national media – to participate in debate in the national relief and reconstruction effort;
- Increase understanding in the public arena and policy circles of the role of local media in emergencies;
- Contribute to the development of independent media and professional journalism.
For additional details please contact:
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