Every year, shocks, disasters and hazards such as earthquakes, floods, pandemics and landslides lead to thousands of avoidable deaths. Information shared at the right time, in an understandable format, by trusted sources, can be the most effective life-saving tool in such events. Early warning allows people to prepare for, mitigate the impact of and respond to shocks and hazards. In a changing climate, with increased risks of extreme weather and disasters, the public needs to have an even greater awareness of the risks they face.
Through the Alert Hub Initiative, the IFRC works with Red Cross Red Crescent National Societies to promote, expand and support the use of the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) among official alerting authorities and amplify alerts in countries worldwide. CAP was developed by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) as an international standard format for emergency alerts. CAP alerts allow a consistent warning message to be disseminated simultaneously over many different warning systems, thus increasing warning effectiveness while simplifying the warning task.
Goal
The IFRC Alert Hub Initiative aims to protect lives and livelihoods by increasing the use of the Common Alerting Protocol and expand the reach of reliable, fast and actionable early warning messages to people at risk.
What is The IFRC Alert Hub?
As part of the Alert Hub Initiative, the IFRC is developing a free online platform that aggregates all published CAP alerts from official alerting authorities worldwide, the "IFRC Alert Hub". The Alert Hub will facilitate free access to emergency alerts across all types of hazards, and at each nation’s choice, to alerts issued at sub-national levels. This platform will be unique in its focus on multi-hazard emergency alerts (from national to local levels) which are free to use and centralized in one place, bringing us one step closer to ensuring that emergency alerts reach everyone at risk.
The Hub aggregates all published early warning alerts from official alerting authorities worldwide issued in the CAP standard format.
It's a free online source for multi-hazard early warning alerts from national to local levels centralized in one place.
It integrates the ‘WhatNow’ service to link early warning alerts with actionable guidance on how to prepare and respond to local hazards.
Implementation of the Alert Hub Initiative
The IFRC, in partnership with USAID and the Global Disaster Preparedness Center, is leading the implementation of the Alert Hub Initiative through a series of trainings, knowledge products, and engagement and advocacy at three main levels.
Who is the IFRC Alert Hub For?
The Alert Hub facilitates free access to CAP alerts to anyone wishing to disseminate trusted, reliable, secure, and precise early warning messages to better inform people about impending emergencies. Users can be a wide range of different actors, including:
• RCRC National Societies
• Alerting agencies
• News organizations
• Telecommunications providers
• International and national emergency managers
• Disaster relief organizations
The Common Alerting Protocol
The Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) is a standard format developed by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to issue multi-hazard early warning alerts that communicate key information such as: What is it? Where is it? How soon is it? How bad is it? What should people do? Learn more
Public Awareness Public Education (PAPE)
The Public Awareness Public Education (PAPE) key messages were developed by IFRC together with Save the Children to provide action-oriented key messages for households and schools. Active, consistent and clear messaging is vital to create a culture of safety and common understanding in the face of disasters. PAPE key messages provide practical advice and guidance on the nature of messages and information to share with the public. National Societies and partners can use this guidance for national adaptation and to help prepare households for local hazards. Learn more
Related Links and Resources
IFRC Alert Hub Overview one-pager - EN
IFRC Alert Hub Project Implementation one-pager - EN
IFRC Alert Hub Overview one-pager - FR
IFRC Alert Hub Project Implementation one-pager - FR
PrepareCenter CAP Implementation page
World Meteorological Organization CAP page
WMO Guidelines for Implementation of CAP
gdpc@redcross.org
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