Press ReleasesSupport Local News in Disasters:
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We need your help to meet the information needs of local populations affected by disasters and humanitarian crises. Internews is building a global network of humanitarian reporters and media support professionals and a stockpile of broadcast equipment kits and radios for rapid deployment to the next crisis. Please support us in this effort with your personal donation designated to the “Humanitarian Media Assistance Program,” or HMAP. DONATE NOW online or get details on contributing by mail or bank transfer. |
In crisis situations, Internews works with local media and humanitarian agencies to serve displaced populations by:
- Providing emergency broadcasting equipment and infrastructure to help damaged media outlets, especially radio stations, return to producing and distributing news and information quickly and rebuild for the long-term
- Distributing thousands of radios to displaced persons
- Coordinating meetings and communications between relief organizations and local media, adding value to humanitarian activities and ensuring that local voices and concerns are informing international media coverage
- Launching daily programming on relief, recovery and crisis news produced and reported by local journalists
- Providing financial and material assistance to professional local journalists whose livelihoods were disrupted by crises
Internews was able to respond to the Indian Ocean tsunami, the Pakistan earthquake, the refugee crisis in Chad and the Yogyakarta earthquake due to the flexibility and rapid response of donors to these crises. With your help, we hope to be to pre-position the necessary human and material resources to respond effectively to the next major crises whenever and wherever they may strike.
Advancing the vision of HMAP to build a capacity to rapidly serve the information needs of communities confronting humanitarian crisis – be it disease, disaster or violence – is a commitment Internews has made as part of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), bringing together leaders for collaborative and innovative action in addressing some of the world’s greatest challenges. For more information see the CGI web site.
PLEASE JOIN US IN THIS COMMITMENT BY SENDING IN YOUR DONATION TO HMAP TODAY.
Why Humanitarian Media Assistance?
Assistance to local media empowers the poor and countries in the midst of humanitarian crises with access to vital local language news and information. In crisis situations created by conflict, natural disasters or outbreak of deadly disease, distressed populations have acute information needs where access to and supply of information in limited. As reported by the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) 2005 World Disaster Report, “Information can save lives, livelihoods and resources. It may be the only form of disaster preparedness that the most vulnerable can afford. Lack of information can make people victims of disaster.”
Media assistance to populations in crisis must be local, in both voice and language, and interactive, to create a dialogue between the affected population and the relief effort.
To support this effort, please make a donation on our web site or by mail, and designate your donation to “Humanitarian Media Assistance Program,” or HMAP.
If you have additional questions about this program or making a donation, please contact:
JoAnne Sullivan Woolley
Director of Development
+1 (202) 833-5740 x208
jsullivan at internews dot org
APPEAL UPDATES
With the support of people like you, past funding appeals have had tangible results. In the past year, Internews has appealed for assistance helping in natural and man-made disasters, with the following outcomes:
Special Appeal for Tsunami Victims
Internews secured more than $3 million to help local media in Indonesia
and Sri Lanka respond to the disaster of the December 2004 tsunami and earthquake
and rebuild in the long term. Generous support came from individual donors,
the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the British Department for International
Development (DFID), the Dutch NGO Hivos, and the US Agency for International
Development (USAID)
More information on Internews'
programs in Aceh and Sri Lanka
Flyer: “News
from Aceh” Speaks to a Province as it Rebuilds after Disaster
Special Appeal for Yogyakarta Earthquake Victims
Internews has raised more than $250,000 from individual donors, the
William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and USAID to help community radio
stations in Yogyakarta in the aftermath of the May 2006 earthquake rebuild
their stations, replace equipment, return to the air, and launch an emergency
am station to provide urgent aid and safety information.
More information on Internews' programs in Yogyakarta
Special Appeal for Afghan radio station gutted by firebomb
When a community-run radio staion in Logar, Afghanistan, built by Internews
was destroyed by a firebomb in the early morning hours of Aug. 11, 2006,
Internews raised more than $10,000 from individual donors and foundations
to rebuild the station. Equipment is now being purchased and the station
manager is seeking a new location to house the radio station.
