A global review of disaster reduction initiatives - Welcome to the ...

nication remains the local language radio networkof Radio Mozambique. This servicebroadcasts information regularly about preventionand disaster risk reduction measures, aswell as communicating warning alerts at thetime of imminent hazards. INGC has alsoworked with the World Food Program to conducttraining seminars for journalists in orderto improve the quality of reporting, and anannual prize has been proposed for the bestdisaster reporting.Local community experiencepromotes public awarenessSome of the most effective means of publicawareness can take place at the local communitylevel with the added advantage of involvingthe participation of a cross-section of the localpopulation.The Community Action Group for Floodwaterin the Old Community of Rodenkirchen(Bürgerinitiative Hochwasser, AltgemeindeRodenkirchen) is a non-profit associationfounded in a district of Cologne, Germany,after the severe flooding of the Rhine River in1993 and 1995. This group advocates theinterests of more than 4,000 residents in mattersof local flood protection. In 2001, the communityaction group sailed the boat Pegellatte("Water Depth Gauge") up the Rhine fromCologne to Basle, Switzerland staging eventsand conducting discussions in 18 towns andcities together with other community actiongroups and representatives of local authorities.In 2002 the group will take their floodwatercampaign boat downstream from Cologne tothe Rhine delta. The overall promotionalefforts of the campaign for greater awarenessabout flood issues is not limited to Germanyalone, as the Group's trips also go throughparts of France, Switzerland and the Netherlands.As a Burgerinitiative Hochwasserspokesman says emphatically, "The aim is towin over the solidarity of ALL Rhine Riverresidents, because we can only combat floodingtogether". In fulfilling their own vow, the communityaction group cooperates closely withthe German Committee for Disaster Reduction(Deutsches Komitee für Katastrophenvorsorge)and the Rhine Emergency FloodwaterOrganisation (HochwassernotgemeinschaftRhein).Building understanding: development of knowledge and information sharingA number of public awareness projects are currentlyunderway in South Africa covering avariety of communities at risk. Ukuvuka:Operation Firestop aims to reduce the riskfrom wildfires in the Cape Peninsula. Thecampaign was launched in the Western CapeProvince in February 2000 after fires thatburned land along Table Mountain behindCape Town. The Ukuvuka Campaign has afour-year mandate to achieve its goals of transferringlessons learned about effective conservationmeasures and biodiversity linked tosocial engagement, and how those methods canbe passed on to other communities.In Operation Firestop, the primary objective isto protect the land and vegetation by controllingalien plant species and by rehabilitatingthe fire-damaged areas they often inhabit. Arelated aim is to help people and their communitiescreate employment through training andpoverty relief for disadvantaged people by protectingthe most vulnerable communities fromfire and promoting co-operation and socialcohesion among them. A third goal is to assistin the implementation of integrated fire managementplans, particularly in areas close tourban centres.Elsewhere in South Africa, other public awarenesscampaigns about disasters are also underway.The Tshwane Metropolitan Councilembarked on a campaign within urban communitieson a variety of local risks includinginformal settlement fires, the spread of diseases,floods, extreme weather conditions, pollutionand HIV/AIDS.The Western and Eastern Cape Provincesjointly implemented an innovative I-SPYawareness campaign. This program involvedthe distribution of information boxes, whichwere small cubes with circular magnifyinglenses placed in two of the sides. Informationabout community hazards and means to reducerisks could be seen by peering through theglass that enlarged the information printed onthe inside of the box. As the information wasdepicted in pictures, the messages were able tocross language barriers.The disastrous events of recent years haveshown that a large part of the Latin Americanand the Caribbean population, particularlypeople living in rural areas, remain largely1974