BCRA participated at 7th ABU Media Summit on Climate Action & Disaster Prevention in Maldives 2023

7th ABU Media Summit on Climate Action & Disaster Prevention has been held in Male, Maldives on 9th & 10th May under the umbrella theme of From Atolls to Alps and Arid Lands: Communicating the Climate Change Challenge, hosted by Public Service Media – national broadcaster of Maldives and Organized by Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union-ABU. Ms. Sumita Rabidas, Program Coordinator, BCRA joined the summit as a representative of Bangladesh Community Radio Association (BCRA) as an panelist to reflect the role of Community Radios in Bangladesh in preparing for Disasters and reaching most vulnerable people during disaster and preparing the community to withstand impending calamities through raising awareness. She discussed the role of CRs based on four points are following-

1. Disaster impact on Community Radio’s Infrastructure in recent years, transmissions situation during disaster and way forward to address the situation

2. Community Radio’s regular relationship with national authorities in charge of disasters

3. Who are your audiences

4. Types of Radio Program in preparation for crisis and disasters

5. How Community Radio encourage our audiences to participate in making tomorrow a better place, to believe in hope

The 2-day long summit conducted 13 different sessions related to Climate Action and Disaster prevention where the presence of Ms. Aminath Shauna, Minister of Environment, Climate Change and Technology, Maldives brought shine to the summit. Mr. Ali Khalid, MD, PSM, Maldives; Mr. Ahmed Nadeem, Secretary General, ABU and Ms. Fanny Langella, representative of UNDRR, Joe Hironaka, Communication Adviser, UNESCO were the jewels at the event. Moreover, delegates from 14 different countries also joined the event to share their work and climate change situation in their respective countries. In addition: Ms. Sumita Rabidas also participated a-day long workshop on Safe and Effective Investigative Reporting on Environmental Crimes held on 11th May. The session contained 3 segments are following:

· Environmental Crimes

· Investigative reporting

· Legal framework/support