Do You Hear Me? Understanding Information Needs for Disaster, Preparedness & Compensation

"This assessment highlights the need for the humanitarian community, donor agencies and the Government of Pakistan to understand, utilize and embed communication with affected populations as part of all disaster preparedness and humanitarian response strategies".

This report documents the findings, analysis, and recommendations regarding key aspects of humanitarian communications gleaned from an assessment conducted in the aftermath of the 2010 and 2011 monsoon floods in Pakistan. Its aim is to assess the access - and response - of flood-affected communities to information after the floods and to analyse the gaps in these communications during the rollout of the Citizen Damage Compensation Program (CDCP), launched by the Government of Pakistan.

The IOM Pakistan Humanitarian Communications Program (HComms) was established as a cross-cutting service to provide life-saving information to populations affected by natural and complex emergencies. The programme assesses information needs and channels, designs communications strategies, develops information products, and disseminates information through sources and mediums identified through their research. It also shares affectees' feedback with aid providers to improve the quality of aid and tailor it according to the needs of the affected population.

A household and community survey was carried out in 11 districts in the 4 provinces of Pakistan, designed to generate a qualitative and quantitative profile about the affected communities, the affected households' access to humanitarian information (in particular during the CDCP implementation), and their financial capability. A total of 1,956 respondents in 311 villages were asked 60 questions during a nationwide survey conducted in February 2012.

A study of the messages dispatched via the 5 major communication mediums discussed in this report - mobile phones, short message service (SMS), television, radio, and newspapers/magazines - indicates that food and CDCP messages were most widely circulated. Information-seeking on protection issues (i.e. finding missing family members or procedures regarding how to apply for the recovery of lost documents) was not widely reported.

It was found that the low levels of literacy in disaster-affected communities mean that any medium of information exchange that requires beneficiaries to read will result in the alienation of a large proportion of the intended audience. Thus, according to the report, it is not surprising that affected households rely most often on friends and family members for information. Only 15% reported receiving information from aid workers. Mobile phones are the most-used media (72% of surveyed households own at least one mobile phone), followed by television, newspapers, and radio. Affected households prefer receiving information in their regional languages. Although illiteracy has a limiting affect on the use of SMS, those who do use it find it very useful. The average number of SMS sent by mobile users is as high as 15 messages per day, with the value being higher for women.

To respond to the needs of disaster affectees, IOM Humanitarian Communications established a Humanitarian Call Centre (HCC). The toll-free helpline, tasked with providing timely and credible information to affectees, has received an average of 550 calls per month since it became operational. The impact assessment reveals that just 2% of the flood-affected population knows about the number and call centre facility. With nearly 72% of owning mobile phones and relying heavily on phone calls to connect to friends and family during information, the report stresses that raising awareness about the call centre within the affected population is critical.

In conclusion, the report recommends that humanitarian communications be strengthened by, among other things, drawing on mediums that are accessible and frequently used by the affectees (which involves reaching out to female audiences to increase reception).