Mongolian journalists attending a workshop on disaster risk management

By Chris Weeks

Ulaanbaatar, 23 April, 2018 - Journalists from Mongolia have shown their commitment to reducing disaster risk through participating in a unique training course, highlighting reporters’ vital role in bolstering community resilience.

The workshop, organised by the Asia Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) in partnership with the UN’s Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), demonstrates how news outlets can raise awareness about threats from hazards like storms, droughts and floods, and report on actions that leaders and communities can take to mitigate and prepare.

It comes as Asia-Pacific governments and representatives of civil society, academia and business are due to gather in Mongolia’s capital, Ulaanbaatar, tomorrow for the ISDR-Asia Partnership (IAP) Forum. The aim of the two-day meeting is to prepare the groundwork for the Asian Ministerial Conference to be held July 3-5 in Mongolia, and to review progress to date on the Asia Regional Plan for implementation of the Sendai Framework.

Loretta Hieber Girardet, UNISDR’s Chief for the Asia-Pacific, said: “Reporting on the aftermath of a disaster is big news and often is the sole focus of the news media. This workshop prepares journalists to tell equally fascinating stories about how communities are building their resilience against disasters here in Mongolia.”