Doha: The Qatar Red
Crescent Society (QRCS) hosted the two-day ShakeSmart Regional Communication
Workshop on earthquake preparedness, organized by the International Federation
of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) with technical support from the
Japanese Red Cross Society. The event brought together communications experts
from National Societies across the Middle East and North Africa to strengthen
regional capacity for raising earthquake awareness and reducing risk at the
community level.
QRCS Assistant
Secretary-General for Relief and International Development Mohammed Bader Al
Sada said the workshop aimed to shift from theoretical planning toward
practical, society-wide messaging, citing the 1948 Ashgabat earthquake, which
killed 10 percent of the population within seconds amid a lack of awareness and
weak infrastructure. He said the initiative would support a coordinated
regional drill centered on three steps - drop, cover and hold on - with the
broader goal of building communities that know how to protect themselves when
disaster strikes.
IFRC Deputy Regional
Director for MENA Christian Cortez referenced the recent earthquakes in Syria,
Turkiye and Morocco as evidence that the threat remains real amid rising
urbanization and climate pressures. He said technical risk maps save lives only
when translated into clear, actionable messages, adding that success should be
measured by how many people become better prepared rather than by the volume of
materials produced. Kentaro Nakashima of the Japanese Red Cross Society praised
QRCS's leadership, noting that since earthquake response depends on
instinctive, pre-trained reactions made within minutes, effective communication
is key to turning awareness into life-saving behavior.
The workshop concluded with a focus on adapting communication materials to local and urban contexts, designing media content to support the planned regional drill, and developing multichannel awareness campaigns tailored to different segments of the community.
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