Republic of Korea - Yesterday (8/6) the UN Migration Agency (IOM) and Korea Broadcasting Journalist Association (KBJA) co-organized the Roles of Communications and Media in Disasters: Responsibilities, Challenges and Opportunities in Disaster Management forum in Seoul, Republic of Korea (ROK).

The purpose was to examine and discuss media’s role in strengthening humanitarian responses and the forum was attended by over 70 participants from media, civil society, academia and development organizations. The event facilitated an exchange of perspectives on effective emergency communication, identified lessons learned, and charted the way to foster partnership in this field.

“Serving as a key information hub, media can impact the level of donor assistance and inter-agency coordination during emergencies,” said Miah Park, IOM ROK Head of Office. “With increasing Korean engagement in humanitarian assistance in the country and abroad, journalists, medical professionals, humanitarian workers and other relevant stakeholders are recognizing the need to develop their capacities to cope with unprecedented humanitarian crisis.”

Park noted that despite progress in national disaster management frameworks, significant gaps remain in providing timely and effective disaster response. That may be due to limited communications between journalists and the humanitarian actors serving affected communities in the country. She added that in calling for greater efforts in harnessing communications and media in disasters among practitioners, IOM ROK provided a platform to share their practices and guiding principles.

Moderated by Christopher Lom, Senior Regional Media and Communication Officer at IOM Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP) in Bangkok, the forum identified key rules and principles in featuring humanitarian media coverage by revisiting real-life examples including the South Sudanese Civil War, Nigeria’s Boko Haram Insurgency and China’s Sichuan earthquake.

“Media need to recognize the power of information in saving lives at the most critical times,” Lom emphasized. “The forum will allow Korean stakeholders to deepen their understanding and be equipped with practical skills to coordinate communications in emergency sites.”

Paul Dillon, Media Officer at IOM Indonesia, and Muse Mohammed, IOM Multimedia Officer, also made presentations based on their emergency communication and coordination experiences.

The forum has been implemented as a part of USAID funded project Building the Resilience on Humanitarian Actors to Disaster in Korea.

For further information, please contact at IOM ROK, Jumi Kim, Tel: +82 (0)70 4820 0292, Email: jukim@iom.int or Seonyoung Lee, Tel: +82 (0)70 4820 2751, Email: selee@iom.int