Perception of foreigners as volunteers

Again, practitioners’ opinions regarding the utility of foreigners being able to volunteer in emergency and disaster situations, or how they might share their knowledge of emergency or disaster situations with local populations, were varied. Some practitioners held a positive attitude towards the general impact that foreigners could make: “If they offer their help they are well disposed to give it” (G3; R), and they also highlighted the benefits of having non-native volunteers as representatives for communities which they considered hard to reach: “Having Chinese mediators and spokespersons… it was more than spokespersons; there are even Chinese police officers. They are more credible to them and having a foreigner inside an association who can deal with local foreigners and stop the crisis could be very important. In the event of a quake where you need to send out people who don’t want to leave and stop working, as they are afraid that they lose everything, having a Chinese explaining everything to them and convince them to leave for their own safety, is very important” (G1; R).

Note: See source document for full reference.

Cultural Factors: Languages, Communication

Hazards: Natural hazards, Man-made non-intentional hazards or emergency situations, Man-made intentional hazards

Disaster Phases: Response, Recovery

Types of Actors Concerned: National civil protection body, Local authorities, Healthcare and emergency services, Red Cross, NGOs, Military, Law enforcement agencies

Recommendations:

• Use trustworthy, widespread, multi-lingual, culturally appropriate and inclusive means of alerting the target population in case of disasters
• Empower vulnerable groups (i.e. children, elderly, and people with disabilities) by including them in disaster management decision-making and actions
• Use cultural factors to improve the effectiveness of disaster communication