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Montreal, August 8, 2016. The World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC) joined UNESCO, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescentand the World Health Organization in the fight against Zika virus in Latin America and the Caribbean.
From March 21 to May, around 300 radio stations from the AMARC network were mobilized in 17 Zika-affected countries in Latin America and the Caribbean to help disseminate prevention and health-related information via an international radio campaign.
A series of three radio information spots produced by UNESCO, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent and the World Health Organization were made available on AMARC’s website and different platforms for download and broadcast in four major languages of the region: English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. The 60 seconds audio spots depicted two neighbors who inform each other about the risks of Zika and the best ways to protect against mosquitoes carrying the virus.
Over the course of the information campaign, the spots were broadcast between 25 000 and 30 000 times in the whole region.
Following the information campaign, in July, 9 participants from the AMARC network attended a two-day workshop entitled “Inform, Engage, Investigate: Lessons learned from Zika outbreak” in Panama City. Sponsored by UNESCO, the event’s main objective was to “strengthen media’s potential in crisis situation to multiply the effectiveness of disaster-preparation and disaster-relief plans.”
More information about the campaign
All relevant information about this campaign is available on UNESCO’s thematic webpage.
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