WITH PEOPLE - COVID-19 - Communication and Community Engagement

3 comments

WITH PEOPLE: Communication, Community Engagement, COVID-19, and Preparing for Future Pandemics

Full paper at this link. Summary at this link.

Even as the COVID struggle continues in so many parts of the world, you may be aware that the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, co-Chaired by Prime Minister Clark and President Johnson Sirleaf is scheduled to report to the World Health Assembly 24th May to 1st June. In essence this is a review of the response to COVID with lessons for the future: "provide an evidence-based path for the future, grounded in lessons of the present and the past to ensure countries and global institutions, including specifically WHO, effectively address health threats."

The Communication Initiative was invited by the Panel to convene a consultative process with a small cross section of people from the communication for development and community engagement community. 24 people participated with advance discussions amongst the group, a long discussion and debate with the Panel and a follow up paper.

The short (9 page) final paper sent to the Panel, following our consultations and the face-to-face meeting with Panel members, can be accessed at this link - WITH PEOPLE: Communication, Community Engagement, COVID-19, and Preparing for Future Pandemics. There is a summary here. The list of people engaged is at the end of the full paper.

Of course there are no full and final answers to the questions: What have we learned from the COVID pandemic; and, What would should do better to prepare for the next one? Even the Panel report to the World Health Assembly will by no means be the final word. And we are still in the midst of this crisis.

What is important is that there is critical conversation and debate about what we have learned and what should happen next to be better prepared. Those learnings and requirements will differ in different contexts of course. But (as my mother said) it is important to share!

We would very much welcome the paper developed being a prompt for that broader, critical debate and sharing of the learning within our communication, media, community engagement, social change and behaviour change field of work.

Please just reply by email or on the platform in the Post New Comment section for the summary.

We very much look forward to sharing your views and perspectives in support of the work of everyone in the network.

With many best wishes and much strength for your very important work.

Kia Kaha e Kia Aroha

Warren

The COVID-19 Communication and Community Engagement HUB

- the Network for Shared Knowledge and Active Dialogue in Support of Effective COVID-19 Action

Comments

Javed

Ahmad

Communication and Community re: Covid-19

I think your article on Communication and Community Engagement re: Covid 19 is comprehensive and recommendations are well thought out. I noticed you talk about evidence of the effectiveness of communication efforts on several issues except for Covid-19.

You must have notices USA, Europe and other countries experiencing the pandemic, most have spent billions in fighting the disease but spent zilch on research on communication and community engagement. This is a shame.

We noticed that people ignored wearing masks, keeping safe distances regardless of their nationality and educational status. But no one wants to know why? People are dying like flies in India and Brazil but educating people on what causes transmission of the disease is left to media alone. Don't we know that this is a different disease than any people have experienced before, it needs to be explained to people using two-way channel of communication (e.g., face to face). In countries with large populations and wide spread pandemic this is all the more important to find most effecttive and efficient channels of communication, messages and organizations to avoid wastage of resources. Needless to say experimental research is the need of times and sooner states do it better for them. Millions of lives are at stake. Corona is likely to be around for a while longer than we may think.

Javed

The COVID-19 Communication and Community Engagement HUB

Glenn

Laverack

COVID: With people by the UN

Comment on WITH PEOPLE - Communication, Community Engagement, COVID-19, and Preparing for Future Pandemics - (with summary at this link)

Read with interest and fully support the need for a greater bottom-up focus in preparing for future pandemics but this should be strengthened at the regional and country levels NOT the creation of another UN funded body (recommendation #4). Although commissioned by the UN the recommendation might be expected.

The 5 year timeframe in #1 simply seems unrealistic although the local level is the key.

The report lists many issues of what needs to be done. But the real issue is how this will be achieved as we have been doing many of these things for many years but without recognition or commitment from the UN or governments, This is a key issue not fully covered in the report.

Glenn

The COVID-19 Communication and Community Engagement HUB