13 - Urban Disasters and Risk Communication Through Youth Organizations in the Philippines

Abstract

It has been shown that traditional mass media (i.e., television, radio, print, recordings, cinema) cannot meet all of the information sharing and communication needs before, during, and after disasters occur. The Internet and mobile communication technologies open many new opportunities for disaster risk reduction (DRR) coordination among individual persons, communities, government agencies, and other stakeholders. In recent years, the use of social media in DRR settings has spread around the world. Twitter, Facebook, and crowdsourcing tools such as Ushahidi and Open Street Map are increasingly being used to collect and disseminate information on the needs of local communities, enhancing the participation of citizens, especially of technology-savvy young people. In this chapter, we present examples of the use of traditional and modern mass media in risk communication by youth organizations (i.e., community-based youth councils, school-based clubs, youth NGOs, etc.) in urban areas in the Philippines.