WBU/UNDRR Media Saving Lives Initiative Moves to a Practical Phase

CROSS-REGIONAL CO-PRODUCTION

TWINNING MEETING BETWEEN ABU AND AUB MEMBERS

23rd-26th March 2022, Mauritius

PRESS RELEASE

TIDE OF CHANGE: WBU/UNDRR Media Saving Lives

The groundbreaking collaboration of media in the Global South moves to a practical phase of content production for Disaster Risk Reduction.

This is an activity of Phase 2 of the WBU/UNDRR Media Saving Lives Initiative, a unique collaboration between the members of the World Broadcasting Unions (ABU, ASBU, AUB, CBU and EBU) and several UN agencies (UNDRR, ITU, WMO and UNESCO – IOC).

In a face-to-face cross-regional co-production meeting in Mauritius, ten African and seven Asian producers worked together to shape three co-productions around the theme "Too Much Water/Not Enough Water".

The production of the short documentaries by members of Asia – Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) and African Union of Broadcasting (AUB) will be led by three experienced Executive Producers:

- Emmanuel Wongibe,

- Gerard Guèdègbé,

- Russell Isaac.

The three co-production teams aim to produce their documentaries by mid - May so they are aired during the Global Platform for DRR in Bali (23 – 28 May 2022) and during the AUB General Assembly in Dakar, Senegal (first week of June 2022).

In Phase 1 of the Initiative, the participating producers have gone through an online DRR course to enhance their knowledge in Early Warning Systems and Messages, Impact – based Weather Forecast and DRR Content Production.

The Mauritius event will be followed by a similar co-production meeting of members of the Caribbean Broadcasting Union on 30 and 31 March, which will close Phase 2 of the WBU/UNDRR Media Saving Lives Initiative.

HOST

Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation MBC

MBC is a member of both ABU and AUB

PARTICIPATING ORGANISATIONS:

AUB Members: CRTV (Cameroon), ZBC (Zimbabwe), KBC (Kenya), NTA (Nigeria), ORTC(Comoros), RTG (Guinea Conakry), ORTB (Benin), RTS (Senegal), UBC (Uganda).

ABU Members: BTV, Bangladesh; DDI, India; TRT, Indonesia; VTV, Pakistan; Maharaja, Sri Lanka; TRT, Turkey and VOV, Vietnam)