Awareness Raising for the General Public in the United Arab Emirates - Report Example

AWARENESS RAISING FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC IN UNITED ARAB EMIRATES An understanding of the nuances of emergency management requires that the definition of the exact constituents of an emergency are made clear. An emergency is basically a situation that causes a direct and instantaneous danger to health, life, property or environment. Most emergencies need urgent intervention in order to prevent a worsening of the situation, although in some cases mitigation i.e. precautionary care might not be an option and intervening agencies may only be able to offer painkilling care for the after effects. Some emergencies are clear and well manifested and would affect or threaten many lives. Examples would include natural disasters, while others might be smaller incidents which need the subjective judgment of a spectator or an involved party in order to make a decision whether or not there actually is an emergency in question. An emergency usually has high chances of increasing in magnitude and cause real harm to life, property or environment and it is in this case that the need for emergency management becomes obvious. Emergency management (or disaster management) is the discipline that studies the ways and methods of dealing with emergencies. It is a subject that is inclusive of preparing for disaster before it occurs, disaster reaction i.e. emergency evacuation, quarantine, mass decontamination as well as supporting, and rebuilding society after natural or human-made disasters have occurred. Simply put, Emergency management is a constant procedure by which people, units, and communities deal with risks and dangers in efforts to avoid and lessen the impact of tragedies resulting from the danger. Often the perception of risk is the deciding factor behind emergency management. Emergency management, in order to be successful requires a successful integration of efforts between communities, government agencies and emergency managing agencies. Actions taken at each level leave an impact on all other levels as well. It is very common today to find the onus for emergency management as far as government agencies are concerned to be put on defense services, the rationale being on a more general intent to protect the civilian population in times of peace as well as in times of war. The term Crisis Management lays emphasis on the political and security dimension rather than measures to satisfy the direct needs of the civilian population. An academic trend is towards using the term disaster risk reduction, particularly for emergency management in a development management context. This focuses on the mitigation and preparedness aspects of the emergency cycle in practical terms, what is it then that constitutes an emergency? All disasters are emergencies but all emergencies cannot be disasters. An emergency can therefore be anything ranging from natural calamities like earthquakes and floods to public emergencies like fires and personal emergencies like accidents and mishaps. There is a new kind of emergency situation that is in fact a part and parcel of everyday modern existence. This is the threat from terrorism and terrorist attacks. The world has not seen tragedy and emergency on the scale of the recent terrorist attacks on the world trade center or more recently the attacks in Mumbai, India. The following report seeks to establish a campaign regarding the management of emergencies, methodologies, raising awareness about mitigation and dealing with aftereffects and then chalk a campaign strategy including usage of leaflets, posters, guides letters and short films. Any plan for working out a strategy for raising awareness among the public with regards to emergencies requires an outlining of the background of emergency and disaster management in the country earlier, existing authorities and provisions to deal with potential emergencies. Emergencies in the United Arab Emirates are linked in a big way to the political conditions West Asia. Emergency management thus is of primary concern in the administration run under Prince General Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Unlike a number of countries around the globe there is an active effort that seems to have been made on the part of the government to set up emergency management institutions. There is a national emergency strategy in place. A national Emergency Authority has been created which works along with the NCEMA, i.e. National Crisis and Emergency Management Authority. The creation of a National Emergency Authority to handle large-scale national emergencies was announced by Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai in 2007. The emergency strategy and the planned emergency authority demonstrate the fact that there is an active interest in securing a proper efficient and coordinated response to all potential national emergencies and threats. The focus of the government is on dealing with potential threats arising out of incidents of bird flu, earthquakes, aircraft accidents, storms, bombings or any form of armed aggression - especially involving weapons of mass destruction (WMD). The desire on the part of UAE to effectively deal with and negate the effects of a disaster or an emergency is visible by virtue of the Conference that was organized by the NCEMA and held under the crown Prince of Abu Dhabi. The conference was named as ‘Crisis and Emergency Management Conference’. It was in fact at this conference that the need for a close cooperation between the public and private sector for dealing with emergencies was stressed. It has been recognized at forums like the conference that the rapid speed of economic and commercial growth in the region that had been driven mostly by oil brought and the transformation of the cities in UAE as major centers of business and tourism brought with it a new set of trials and threats. These threats have been recognizes and put on record as being those of health risks, terrorism, cyber threats and crimes, money laundering, human and drug trafficking, natural and environmental disasters. The idea of the institutional set up therefore is to focus on the management of emergencies, coordinate between different sectors involved in disaster management; and respond and counter biological, chemical and radioactive crises and their impacts on society. There has also in fact been the set up of formal practice and training in the ways and methodologies of dealing with emergencies of the kinds that have been listed above. There is however a very apparent gap between the theory and practice. The institutional set up concentrates vastly on the initiatives that need to be taken by the governments and the civic bodies that need to deal with emergencies. There is little or almost no mention of the efforts that have to be made in order to educate the public as such and awareness in the civic Diaspora is an almost essential part of effective emergency management. Panic is a common factor that seems to hinder a large part of most emergency management efforts. This is in almost all cases a result of ignorance on the part of the civil mass. The basic reasoning behind the following report and a sketch of the campaign that could work is to raise the awareness of the public in order to ensure that tragedy due to ignorance is avoided. If one was to identify the aims and objectives of the campaign, the immediate context that comes to mind is that the aims should be identifiable with those of a social marketing campaign. The campaign will thus seek to apply the principles and techniques of commercial marketing strategies to analyze plan and execute the program designed to influence the voluntary behavior\r of its target audience in a certain way. But unlike a number of other campaigns this one does not seek to address the issue of value or perception change. It is mostly an awareness campaign. The basic objectives of the campaign can be divided in to the proximate aims and the general aims: The proximate ends can be defined as: Help identify and define the kinds of emergencies that can befall the public Removal of misconceptions and prejudices regarding what the role of the public is supposed to be during an emergency, It has to seek to highlight to the strength of the role of an individual Basics of the state proposed emergency management plan developed by the state The role of the individual vis-à-vis the role of state agencies Basic information availability of the appropriate agencies in case of emergency Making people aware of and understand warning systems. These aims are, as stated earlier simple to achieve and are manifest in the way the campaign posters and advertisements will be designed. They are in essence short term goals that seek to be the formative ground for the fulfillment of the general ends or the long terms goals which can be stated as: Formation of local leadership in communities that will be better educated than the rest with regards to identifying early signs of emergencies and alerting the authorities and the community about it Impetus to the better growth and development of NGOs that are working in the area Foster better working relations between the authorities and the public by making the public aware of the scope of work to be done by government bodies during the time of emergencies. Formation of a system resembling a Local Resilience Forum responsible for training respective communities in the nuances of emergency management. System. Dissemination of information about evacuation techniques and procedures The need for emergency preparedness has come to the forefront in the light of the back to back tragedies that the world has witnessed over the past decade. These tragedies have been a combination of the natural and man made emergencies. Some of the big tragedies that rocked the globe to the end of its seat have included the tsunami, the terrorist attacks on the world trade center, on embassies around the globe, wars on Iraq and Afghanistan, Earthquakes in India and China, hurricanes like the Katrina in the US and floods all over the world. Warfare, chemical and nuclear, terror attacks and the growth of dissidents around the world have been of primary concern. The basic purpose of a pandemic plan like an emergency management plan is to lessen the impact on a given community as much as is possible. The problem with public awareness programmed is the issue with funding. Emergency and disaster management are disciplines that are both relatively new in existence and hence are not clearly marked territorially. While some emergencies come under the purview of the health department, some come under the geological and some under the home affairs. This kind of a confusion demands that there be in existence some kind of a cell or an independent body which can deal with all of the above. While this kind of a system is in place the problem arises with regards to funding and research work. Most emergency warning systems need to be highly sophisticated and development of these warning systems needs money that most developing countries do not seem to have available. Another cause that seems to be a must for better emergency management system is the fact that mobility across borders has increased and become more fluid than ever before. Advance planning for and coordination of the transportation needs of vulnerable populations significantly contribute to successful emergency responses in which people are transported safely and efficiently away from a threatened or dangerous area. Many communities have developed—or are in the process of developing—Emergency Operations Plans to formalize the elements of emergency response. Including transportation provisions as part of these plans is critical to meeting the service needs of transportation-dependent populations during an emergency. The real challenge in emergency management is to develop the relationships among key organizations that allow for the most effective response by the public and the community. Despite the fact that no one solution or best practice might deal with all concerns, discussion among leaders at all levels of government, community agencies, and populations that are impacted by emergency conditions will produce modernization and procedures to better tackle the specific needs of dependent populations in many communities. The better planning done before an emergency situation, the more prepared communities are to deal with them and the resulting needs of those affected. Planning must be inclusive of the network of stakeholders, emergency response personnel, management officials, and a variety of community-based services, including advocacy organizations, employment and training providers, health and human service providers and local faith-based organizations. The purpose of this kind of a planning system is simple and apparent. In times of emergency people look to the ones they know for comfort and trust. It therefore has to be localized institutions that have to form the backbone of the campaign. The target population as far as the campaign is concerned is on children and adults. Thus institutions and local channels are out of the purview of this particular campaign. The reason for this is simple. The campaign is an awareness raising campaign and not a\ training oriented campaign. Institutions and local bodies have to be made part of the campaign as ones seeking to be the disseminators of information and not the ones that benefit from it. The target has been selected as the general body of the civic people because in case of emergencies this is the population where lie the maximum part of the ignorance about how exactly it is that one has to go about dealing with a situational emergency. Children form a major part of the campaign and for it to be successful in any given ideal situation the message has to get across clearly to the body of kids because they are ones who are worst hit in case of any given emergencies. The message about what to do in emergencies therefore has to be made available to them in clear language and in ways they understand. That brings us directly into the elements and strategy of the campaign i.e. the strategies that are to be used, the medium that has to be taken and the length of time through which the desired information needs to be disseminated. The basic principle of marketing is the clear recognition of the features and benefits of the product or service that is to be marketed. There are other factors that determine its success as well but these factors are majorly hinged on the proper understanding of the first element i.e., whether an audience uses the information that is to be provided and how readily they will do so. First and foremost probably the most basic step is strategizing and implementing the campaign through advertisements. The idea is basically to promote the concept of cooperation during emergencies and knowing not to panic. The people have to be made to care about the information with regards to emergencies and how they need to be managed through the medium of the media. Powerful visuals and catchy lines that touch a cord come into the focus here. The idea is simple. People do not automatically care. They have to be made to do so. It is here that the steps to educate and motivate them about preparedness in case of emergencies come into the picture. The second most important element of the campaign is its distribution. Distribution refers to the ways in which access to information is provided. The one basic rule that needs to be assuredly followed is that information has to be made available in an easy manner. People should not have to make any kind of extra effort in order to access the information in question. Timing becomes very important in this regard. An attempt to getting the information across when it is known that the target will be busy and preoccupied is a waste. Weekends are the ideal time for staking a claim on any adult’s time. Children on the other hand can be easily accessed during school hours, infact the best way to get the required information across to children is through teachers and guidance counselors through skits and play acts. Adults on the other hand need to be accessed via mediums such as blogs, website pop-ups, TV ads, newspaper ads, billboard signage, housing community meetings among other mediums. The third major element that needs to be understood and taken care of is that of pricing. Pricing is the effort required to capture the perceived value of a product or service for consumers. With regards to the campaign the concept of pricing needs to be understood and dealt with in two basic ways: In the first place, price is to anything that the target group will have to give up in order to get involved and learn more about the campaign, time, relationships, habits, anything. The campaign thus has to be designed and marketed only with the necessary and quality information, the reports cannot be too long or complicated, in case it is, people will not be willing to invest the time required. In the more familiar context of commercial marketing, price refers to a financial cost. This basically refers to the budget of the campaign. Being a nation wide marketing gimmick, the budget has to be appropriately large. Ideally, there has to be the involvement of big names like actors, or politicians that need to be associated with the campaign because people will always be attracted to, and will listen more to someone that they already know and respect. The campaign will require the setting up of websites and blogs, a proper pamphlet distribution campaign and at least a few runs on TV along with eye catchy ads in newspapers. Beside this a campaign of this nature can never be run without volunteers who will need to be given if not money than reimbursements costs, food, travelling expenses. The budget element has to therefore keep in mind all of the above factors. Ultimately it is important to understand that keeping all of this updated through proper documentation and filing is important, recognizing that new information and changes in the environment might just lead to changes in approach over time. A written strategy will help ensure that everyone is in agreement and that changes in staffing won't affect the ability to implement the project. The basic approach in the campaign is the distribution of information, and helping people understand and use it. Components of the strategy have to be linked up through theme and appearance. For example, logos, graphics, and color schemes will be repeated so that there is in place a system of image association from the symbols to the campaign. Most important, it has to be ensured that the essence of emergency management and the tone used to communicate it are consistent throughout the campaign. This kind of repetition will help people recognize and learn new concepts; a disciplined approach also ensures that one remains faithful to whatever one learnt about the audience. As your public evolves in its understanding of the issues and the ways to manage themselves while helping others during emergency situations, the messages will become more sophisticated. Part 2: Website layout will hold: An easy access system with hyperlinks to all of the main sub topics on the main page Each of the sub topics will ideally be an example of the emergency in question and ways to go about getting oneself out of the danger situation. There necessarily has to be some kind of an image page on the website will can go up to exhibit not just ghastly pictures of images but also pictures of heroes who have during earlier emergencies come out victorious, thereby working as motivational factor The website also has to have information with regards to the people and authorities that are involved and responsible during the time of emergencies, these are inclusive of police, health services, disaster management personnel among others Each of the sub topic i.e. each outlining of the emergency should hold not just theoretical knowledge but also some practical information Area wise, the information of the Local Resilience Club has to be made available on the website thereby urging people to join the movement and become part of the awareness campaign. The website should finally have blogs and an interactive thread whereby people can talk about and exchange ideas regarding the best solutions to a given emergency situation. Leaflets: The leaflet is a way of getting the information across in a much smaller manner, it should thus state the in two lines the danger of emergency situations and the need for everyone’s involvement and help. It has to exhort people not to ignore the message and to take it seriously. Saying that each one has a potential to be the hero, to save someone they love. Each kind of an emergency can have a different kind of a leaflet stating in 4 simple ways the method of saving oneself and getting out of harm’s way. All campaign leaflets however should have the contact numbers, i.e. the ones call in case of more information and the address of the campaign website. Guidebooks and Newsletters: Again basic information about what constitutes an emergency and what needs to be done, the numbers that are to be used and images on display should be made mandatory parts of newsletters. Guidebooks can be designed on the lines of scout books outlining codes and honor statements for the benefit of children. Newsletters can be circulated via email without information that would categorize the mail as spam. Chains can be created the in order to ensure that more and more people go through the mail. Videos and DVDs Videos and DVDs will probably be the frontrunners if the campaign has to achieve any degree of success. Videos include the ads that will go on TV as well. The basic highlighting factor in all ads has to be that of cooperation and telling people to go visit the website n pay heed to the information that is being circulated around them. Thee will be a slogan which will be aired on the video first with someone well known saying it. Videos can also have moving images of past disasters in the country, examples of war and ensuing chaos in the region thereby making it a foil to an attempt at a better future. Websites like YouTube can be made use of in this regard with a fair amount of assured success. Reference: Emergency management, accessed, April 20, 2009, < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_management> NCEMA conference, accessed, April 19, 2009, http://www.ameinfo.com/news/Company_News/N/NCEMA/ Ethics in social Marketing, Alan A, pub, 2001, accessed, April 19, 2009, http://books.google.com/books?id=WeFKuorUjx4C&pg=PA41&lpg=PA41&dq=aims+of+social+marketing&source=bl&ots=unMy8Khp5f&sig=Su0db9BHJgX8V9u2dVclVu_UihA&hl=en&ei=p-TqScfxKY2CkQWYm6mnCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10#PPA41,M1 How to raise awareness during emergencies, accessed on April 19, 2009, Communicating disasters and emergencies, accessed on April 19, 2009, Basic elements of social marketing steps, accessed on April 20, 2009, < http://www.ahrq.gov/chip/content/outreach_enrollment/outreach5.htm> A Short course in social Marketing, accessed on April 20, 2009, < http://www.smarketing.com.sv/element_social.htm> Read More