Disasters

& Online Empowerment

In the spring of 2015, Nepal was hit by two large earthquakes. Close to 9000 people died and over half a million people became homeless…

Extreme events = disasters?

Only if you lack the resources to bounce back or adapt….

Disasters are products of the social order, not just the results of geophysical extremes

The co-development of societies with their environments lead to specific patterns of vulnerability… some groups are less able to prepare for or cope with extreme events

Humanitarians aim to target those most in need “regardless of the race, creed or nationality of the recipients and without adverse distinction of any kind”

Disasters as opportunities for changeEstablished power structures (partially) collapse

Humanitarian actors (re)negotiate their national and local positions of power vis a vis established power structures

Red Cross Code of Conduct, signed by 587 humanitarian organizations

Hundreds of humanitarian actors become active – they are coordinated by the national government, or the United Nations

Disasters as opportunities for change

In the liminal period after a disaster social divisions become less marked – people experience a sense of community…

Possibility to forge enduring ties and connections between different social groups

Crises as Catalysts for Online EmpowermentSocial media can facilitate the development of networks of cooperation and communication between formal responders, responding communities and groups requiring aid*, potentially linking up marginalized groups – building their social capital*these different groups overlap

Social media crisis data could help formal responders target those most in need- Marginalized communities are

sometimes absent from official data sets

- Carrying out independent assessments can take weeks

Accessing and sharing crisis data (online) improves situational awareness- Makes community self-help more effective- Enables communities to broadcast their needs to the wider world- Allows communities to coordinate their efforts with those of formal

responders

Sociotechnical difficulties prevent formal responders from using social media data• Data constitutes a ‘poor

organizational fit’• Concerns about the

reliability of social media data• Responders fall back on

established data routines due to time pressure

Crowdsourcing crisis data

• Organized through community platforms• Mediators connect

formal responders with online volunteers• Using ‘the crowd’

to triangulate information

‘live’ crisis data sets developed by global digital volunteers and local affected people

Screenshot “Mission 4636” run on the Ushahidi Platform

Marginalized communities face barriers that prevent them from contributing to – or accessing – online crisis data

Multiple cyberspaces – barriers to access

• Access to ICT equipment and working infrastructure

• Literacy and digital literacy• Virtual divides: cyberspaces are

language and culture dependent• Social capital: access to information

about the existence of online crisis platforms

Barriers

Screenshot of QuakeMap: most crisis reports came from and were about digitally literate Kathmandu Valley; not the worst hit regions

Crowdsourcing crisis data in the aftermath of the 2015 earthquakes in Nepal

Connecting offline communities to the web• Code for Nepal combined a low-tech digital approach with community

focal points• Mobile Citizens Helpdesks combined an ICT based approach with in-

person visits

But inequalities that are the legacy of the old social order pose barriers to empowerment…

Disasters provide opportunities for new empowering social practices to take hold that challenge the old status quo…

Social media may only further ‘empower the empowered’ if marginalized groups can’t access or contribute to online crisis data

Thank you!@Femke_Mulder_VUf.mulder@vu.nlhttp://disastergovernance.info