BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Jul 9, – UNESCO and the Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU) be part of forces to strengthen media resilience to disasters within the Caribbean, a area closely impacted by local weather change and environmental disasters.
In a major transfer to bolster catastrophe preparedness and response within the Caribbean, UNESCO has partnered with the Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU) to reinforce the broadcasting and editorial capability of media shops in two Caribbean Small Island Growing States (SIDS). This initiative is especially well timed because the area faces the devastating impacts of Hurricane Beryl.
Inside this partnership, UNESCO offered two units of strong radio transmitters and antennas to 2 member broadcasters of CBU in Barbados, and Turks and Caicos. This enabled them to achieve a bigger inhabitants earlier than, throughout and after local weather emergencies, and to revive operations within the occasion of injury to their present infrastructure throughout disasters. CBU will conduct complete coaching with the beneficiary media, specializing in enhancing institutional methods and practices on catastrophe preparedness, using digital instruments for information gathering, and bettering programming on local weather change.
“Within the face of local weather emergencies and disasters, well timed and correct data will help communities make knowledgeable choices and save lives. Public curiosity media are an indispensable pillar on this endeavour. UNESCO stays steadfast in its dedication to enhancing catastrophe resilience and supporting local weather change adaptation of Member States within the Caribbean and different areas, by empowering media with the required instruments and competencies.”
Tawfik JelassiAssistant Director-Common for Communication and Data, UNESCO
CBU President, Dr Claire Grant, emphasised the media’s important contribution to communities’ catastrophe resilience, particularly in areas most susceptible to pure hazards just like the Caribbean:
“Too typically it’s assumed that even in emergencies the media will nonetheless have the ability to function usually. However because the Caribbean prepares itself for […] more and more devastating hazards, having the ability to keep transmission of probably the most accessible medium, radio, should be seen as a pillar of preparation, in addition to reduction and restoration efforts.”
Claire Grant
This initiative is a part of UNESCO’s broader efforts to help SIDS media in local weather motion and catastrophe preparedness. Since 2022, the Group has assisted media organizations in a number of SIDS, together with the Bahamas, Fiji, Haiti, Marshall Islands, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Timor-Leste, and Tuvalu. In 2024, actions on this space are additionally underway in Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Jamaica. This new partnership builds on these efforts, reaffirming UNESCO’s dedication to empowering SIDS media as key actors in catastrophe threat discount.
Dr Grant inspired different growth and personal sector companions to offer tangible help, enhancing catastrophe preparedness of media in each Caribbean nation or territory. CBU will spotlight the partnership throughout its fifty fifth Annual Common Meeting, will happen in Placencia, Belize, from 11 to 14 August 2024, below the theme “Media and the Surroundings”.
