Low awareness of guidelines and disaster procedures amongst citizens in Malta

Participants of the Malta Citizen Summit expressed a strong lack of knowledge about the guidelines and procedures their local disaster management authorities are following, with 73% of respondents indicating that they know not a lot or nothing at all. In addition, they also indicated that they feel even less informed about what to do themselves in case of a disaster, with 91% of respondents feeling not informed or not informed at all about what to do in a disaster.

Cultural Factors: Communication

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

Disaster Phases: Prevention, Response, Recovery, Preparedness, All disaster phases

Types of Actors Concerned: Local authorities, Healthcare and emergency services

Recommendations:

• Develop guidelines for disaster practitioners that take into consideration the different needs of and approaches to different ethnical groups
• Develop culturally aware disaster preparedness and response training
• Training programmes for citizens of all ages should be developed. These are necessary to increase citizens’ knowledge of and preparedness in case of disasters. The training activities should be organized on the basis of a training strategy and should take various forms, ranging from emergency drill to workshops