ReliefWeb

OVERVIEW

Affected communities are primary stakeholders of the humanitarian response and have a basic right to participate in decisions that affect their lives, receive the information they need to make informed decisions and complain if they feel the aid and services they receive are not adequate or has unwelcome consequences.

From the immediate aftermath of the typhoon, survivors have urgently needed information on available services and aid, and support in finding ways to communicate with each other in a context of severely damaged telecommunications. Adequate information and capacity for two-way communication are essential prerequisites for resilience and recovery.

Information sheets in various evacuation centres are beginning to provide some information but it is insufficient. While local and emergency radio broadcasting has restarted in some urban centres, especially Tacloban where seven radio stations are operational, more work is needed in terms of coordinating and prioritizing life-saving information.

The preferred sources of information on assistance cited by affected communities, based on a World Vision Assessment in Leyte and Iloilo, were (in order) community leaders (barangay councils), local government authorities, community volunteers, radio or TV, and agency staff.