Geneva – To celebrate this year’s World Radio Day, the Communicating with Disaster Affected Communities (CDAC) Network is organizing an event today (13/02) to explore radio’s vital role in communicating with communities.

IOM, the UN Migration Agency will host the event at its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

“Some people have argued that radio is a dying medium, but it’s only gotten more popular and will continue to be a powerful tool for community-based communications in and outside of humanitarian contexts,” said Leonard Doyle, Head of IOM’s Media and Communications Division, in his prepared remarks.

Titled Radio – A Beacon of Progress in Today’s Tech-Led Communication Landscape, the event consists of two sessions. The first will focus on the link between the use of radio and the health of disaster-affected communities. It will draw from scientific evidence gathered in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda in the Philippines in 2013, when all radio and TV stations were off the air in Tacloban City, the “Ground Zero” area of the disaster. Karin Hugelius’ research project consisted of interviews with 400 survivors to assess the impact of the First Response Radio (FRR) and how this station helped the affected community.

The second session, Radio’s Vital Role for Communities on the Move and in Conflict, will discuss case studies where radio has played a vital role in situations of population movement. IOM will present the results of the “Aware Migrants” campaign and assess the use of radio as a platform for returning migrants to alert their peers about the dangers of irregular migration.

Further examples will be presented to show the role of radio in other countries, such as Somalia and the Central African Republic.

The event will conclude with a Q&A session on the future of disaster radio, and closing remarks by Marian Casey-Maslen, CDAC Network Executive Director.

CDAC Network is a growing platform of more than 30 humanitarian, media development, social innovation, technology, and telecommunication organizations dedicated to saving lives and making aid more effective through communication, information exchange and community engagement.

For more information please contact Jorge Galindo, IOM HQ, Tel: +41227179205, Email: jgalindo@iom.int