Twitter expands Disaster Preparedness search prompt in Southeast Asia

Our core objective of launching this #ThereIsHelp notification search prompt is to truly help shorten the search time and to provide timely access to credible information from our partners to those in need. In collaboration with BNPB Indonesia (@BNPB_Indonesia), Peta Bencana (@PetaBencana), MERCY Malaysia (@MERCYMalaysia), and NADMA Malaysia (@mynadma), we hope this notification service can serve as a means to help the Indonesian and Malaysian public, as well as government and non-government stakeholders navigate the extreme weather that the monsoon season brings in along with other unprecedented disaster events,

Natural disasters often happen in Indonesia. Since the beginning of 2022 until October 2022, 2.956 natural disasters have occurred in the country. Addressing these continuous natural disaster issues, preparedness efforts are not only needed from the local government, but also from the community, business world, academia, and the mass media or what is often called Pentahelix. Every year, BNPB commemorates Disaster Preparedness Day in April and Disaster Risk Reduction Month (PRB) in October. The series of activities aims to maintain all parties' mutual commitment to reducing disaster risk. The collaboration with Twitter is one of the implementations of this commitment and hopefully can further build awareness toward the importance of official information before, during, and after a natural disaster occurs.

As extreme weather events become more frequent and severe, it is imperative that every single person is empowered to participate in disaster risk reduction and recovery efforts. Information is the most important resource during a disaster, and social media has significant potential in its capacity to reach hundreds of millions of people instantaneously. The PetaBencana.id platform maps disasters in real-time through crowd-sourced reports via social media, transforming social media into a life-saving information coordination system so that every resident is able to view and share real-time verified information, and participate in the civic co-management of disasters. We celebrate the #ThereIsHelp initiative and are grateful to collaborate with our long-time partners at Twitter to ensure that all residents have easier, immediate, access to credible information during emergency situations and are aware of the ways they can participate in our shared goals of reducing risk together through digital gotong royong!

MERCY Malaysia’s 20+ years of experience in humanitarian response supports the organization’s commitment towards disaster preparedness and mitigation. MERCY Malaysia has embraced the Humanitarian-Development Nexus (HDN) approach which facilitates effective multidisciplinary synergies by building communities’ resilience to shocks and future disasters, and achieve sustainable outcomes wherever we serve through emergency, humanitarian and development aid. We thank Twitter for initiating this community-based communication platform and look forward to engaging with our stakeholders and disseminating knowledge to increase behavioral shifts and accelerate adaptation to Disaster Risk Reduction and Management.

NADMA Malaysia is responsible for ensuring the coordination and implementation of actionable plans at the central, state, and district levels run smoothly in its disaster preparedness efforts. Disaster preparedness can reduce property damages and prevent casualties. This collaboration with Twitter can increase user awareness in obtaining trusted and official information from the government.