First Response Radio

By Amplifying Voices | January 4, 2020

HCR was a founding member of the First Response Radio (FRR) network and supported international FRR coordination, monitoring and evaluation from initial concept exploration until Dec 2019. From the beginning of 2020, HCR UK rebranded as Amplifying Voices and started to develop Amplifying Voices in Disaster (AViD), supporting communities where we are already active so that their voices take a central role in responding to disaster and in recovery. One of the FRR partners, FEBC Philippines, adopted full responsibity for all First Response Radio projects.

Origins

HCR developed the Rapid Response Radio Unit (RRRU) concept in collaboration with two other organisations between 1999-2004. In 2012 the RRRU was renamed First Response Radio. FRR formed a network of local teams in disaster prone countries who are equipped and trained to set up and run a temporary FM radio station for affected communities within 72hrs of a disaster.

HCR/FRR teams used the Ranger studio in a suitcase (pictured), produced by Randall Concepts. This is a robust, portable and simple to use studio setup which speeds up the time to get on air in uncertain environments.
HCR Pakistan was the host organisation for FRR Pakistan, and developed disaster response teams in Islamabad and Azad Jammu Kashmir.

FRR and Amplifying Voices continue to share learning around disaster response equipment and community engagement, and are both members of the CDAC network.

Amplifying Voices and First Response Radio in 2019

Within 2 weeks of Cyclone Idai, March 2019, an Amplifying Voices team traveled to Mozambique and got Radio Buzi back on air using FRR equipment and a condensed version of FRR training. The local station began straightaway to broadcast lifesaving information and advice to support early recovery of community members in Buzi. Read more about the Cyclone Idai response

Amplifying Voices also supported FRR to complete an evaluation of health impact due to disaster response radio in Bihar following the floods in 2017.

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Backpack radio for Gaza
In a matter of weeks from now, we hope to see a much-needed humanitarian radio station going on air in Gaza. We asked our partner Mike Adams of Rapid Response Radio, to share his reflection on the journey to get to this point. Soon after the Gaza-Israel war started in October of 2023, every radio and TV station inside Gaza was confirmed to be off the air. In many other countries, we might not notice that our favorite station was gone, or we might quickly switch to listening online without a thought. As I read the media listening research about Gaza before the war I saw that Gazans are radio listeners and own radios. Their internet was very slow even before the war with 2G internet being the fastest signal you could get on a mobile phone. Also, not as many people watched TV as on the Palestinian West Bank. So in the first week of the war I spoke with my friends from Amplifying Voices and other partners and we started to ask if there was a strong role for Humanitarian Radio? I have been working in the humanitarian world for over 20 years now and I have never seen a room full of UN staff and humanitarian workers who were so depressed as we all felt like there was nothing we could do to help support the people in Gaza while the doors were still closed to humanitarian relief and workers coming in from outside Gaza. One local Gazan gave me hope that we might still be able to do something to equip those in the community. Providentially, 2 weeks before the war started, a friend of mine introduced me to Mohamed al Sabe (Sabe for short). He is a Gazan and has studied and worked in the humanitarian world for many years. His family home is in Gaza City and we met on a Zoom video call before the war started. Given the history of conflict in the area, it was only a matter of time before a humanitarian radio capacity would be needed again soon, so we started talking about how to equip him for this work. My aim has always been to connect local communities with each other and with humanitarian responders by getting a radio station on air within 72hrs of a disaster happening. In supporting teams to respond to over 40 disasters, I have seen time and again that planning ahead is key, so we equip and train local community members to be ready with our “Suitcase Radio” to get on air, in the disaster area, as quickly as possible. Before Sabe and I could work through that equipping process, the war had started. It quickly became clear that a 72hrs response would be impossible in such a complex conflict. We also realized that the equipment needed to be even more flexible than the suitcase radio; something that would not attract too much attention, that could be packed up and carried easily in an evacuation. We designed a studio for Gaza that could be built into a backpack and sent it to Sabe thru our UN partners. Mike hands over Backpack for Gaza via UN partner in Cairo Another challenge is that normally we would deliver equipment and hands on training all at the same time, but this time we could not do that, but only send the equipment in. Knowing that Sabe would have to assemble the studio bit by bit, by himself we created a set of “IKEA style” instructions and a step-by-step setup video that was sent on the included laptop. Training over Zoom, August 2024 A really positive thing has been the number of really clever and very resourceful people we have encountered in Gaza. Basheer, a medical worker at local hospital lost his job when his hospital was destroyed. He has proved to be a very handy volunteer and helped Sabe set up and test the studio. Sabe also found many young “bloggers” who are experienced at interviewing and bring their own mics and cameras. Despite the many constraints, we are now hopeful that this growing team of Gaza staff and volunteers will be ready to start broadcasting humanitarian radio content very soon. Amplifying Voices has worked in partnership with First Response Radio – founded by Mike Adams, now operating as Rapid Response Radio – for many years. We are supporting the Gaza radio project with equipment costs and advocacy, and stand ready to support further with training if requested by the local partners. Our crisis response toolkit, Amplifying Voices in Disaster (AViD), supports community voices to play a central role in crisis responses.
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Origins

Amplifying Voices and First Response Radio in 2019

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