The Drum Beat 791 - Communication and Media in a Time of COVID-19

• 1.COVID-19 Response in Northwest Syria: Innovation and Community Engagement in a Complex Conflict
  by Abdulkarim Ekzayez, Munzer al-Khalil, Mohamad Jasiem, Raed Al Saleh, Zedoun Alzoubi, Kristen Meagher, and Preeti Patel
  This article explores how, in light of a lack of capacity and resources, the health system in northwest Syria is using community-driven approaches for the containment of COVID-19. For instance, the Idleb Health Directorate (IHD) has created a grassroots governance system and is working with local actors such as the White Helmets (Syria Civil Defence) to mobilise thousands of volunteers in light of COVID-19. [May 2020]
  
   
• 2.Assessment of Knowledge, Perception and Readiness of Nigerians to Participate in the COVID-19 Vaccine Trial
  by Seyi Samson Enitan, Adesola Oyekunle Oyekale, Richard Yomi Akele, Kayode Abraham Olawuyi, Elisha Oluwatobi Olabisi, Amarachi Joy Nwankiti, Esther Ngozi Adejumo, and Comfort Bosede Enitan
  Recruiting volunteers for a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine clinical trial can be challenging due to poor knowledge, negative perceptions, ethical issues, and safety concerns. These researchers conducted a survey to assess the knowledge, perceptions, and readiness of Nigerians to volunteer for a COVID-19 vaccine trial. A key take-away from the survey is that most respondents were unwilling to take the COVID-19 vaccine. The researchers suggest: "To make COVID-19 vaccine mandatory or compulsory with the current anti-vaccine trends in Nigeria, without adequate public awareness, will not only be considered a violation of fundamental human rights, but will also fuel the anti-vaccine movement and undermine efforts in curbing the pandemic..." [Jul 2020]
  
   
• 3.Themes and Evolution of Misinformation During the Early Phases of the COVID-19 Outbreak in China - An Application of the Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication Model
  by Jiahui Lu
  A growing body of literature has investigated the misinformation surrounding disease outbreaks, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Social media has enabled misinformation to circulate with ease around the world. This study applies the Crisis and Emergency Risk and Communication model (CERC) to understand the themes and evolution of misinformation on the internet during the early phases of the COVID-19 outbreak in China. [Aug 2020]
  
   
• 4.Key Considerations: COVID-19 in Informal Urban Settlements
  by Annie Wilkinson
  Drawing in part on experiences from the Ebola outbreak, this brief from the Science in Humanitarian Action Platform (SSHAP) discusses what is known about the vulnerabilities of the 1 billion people who live in informal settlements, sets out key considerations for protecting them from the spread and impacts of COVID-19, and explores how to use community engagement strategies to support local action among them. [Mar 2020]
  
   
• 5.Radio and Pandemics - COVID-19 in East Africa: How Community and Vernacular Radio Are Influencing Social and Behaviour Change
  by Daniel Ominde Okoth
  Studies on how radio was used during the West African Ebola outbreak, and how it is being used during the COVID-19 pandemic, show that it can be an effective tool in influencing changes in social behaviours that might help in reducing the spread of infectious diseases in East Africa. This is the central argument of this report, which was commissioned by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) Media Programme SubSahara Africa. It shares details about research carried out among 9 radio stations across Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania that sought to find out how local radios are using social and behaviour change communication (SBCC) in the fight against the pandemic. [Jun 2020]
  
   

• * COVID-19 - Best Strategies - What are we learning? | The COVID-19 Communication and Community Engagement HUB
• * COVID-19 - Communication Response?
  
  

• 6.virALLanguages
  The volunteer-run virALLanguages initiative is working with native speakers of minority, endangered, or otherwise marginalised languages of the world to translate and share basic COVID-19 health information via audio and video. This participatory media project is based on the conviction that people trust information when it reaches them in the right language and through the right medium. Proverbs, metaphors, and rhetorical strategies are among the approaches used to get the information across in a way that will enable behavioural change. As more language communities from across the world join, the coverage in more languages will grow.
  
   
• 7.Hear Her Voice
  Beyond the threat of the coronavirus itself, girls and women face a heightened risk of gender-based violence, economic stress, and a lack of access to education, health care, and sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services and information. Launched by Girl Effect in June 2020, Hear Her Voice is a research project giving 25 girls in 5 countries (Bangladesh, India, Malawi, Nigeria, and the United States) a platform to report on their COVID-19 experiences via digital diaries. The insights are being used to design interventions to meet girls' short- and long-term needs.
  
   
• 8.Mobile Fotonovelas within a Text Message Outreach to Build Health Literacy and Influence Behaviors in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
  Using SMS, mPulse Mobile, Inc. adapted the traditional print format by creating a series of mobile (digital) fotonovelas to improve health literacy around COVID-19, to fill knowledge gaps around perceived severity and susceptibility, and to help health plan members build new healthy habits to avoid exposure to the virus. The readability of content is at or below a sixth grade reading level, and the characters in the visuals are culturally diverse, vary in age and gender, and communicate in English or Spanish.
  
   
• 9.Navigating the New Normal
  As India's lockdown, imposed in response to the Coronavirus pandemic, is lifted, people will resume their normal activities. This raises a challenge: "How do we ensure that the increased movement does not increase the spread of COVID-19?" Launched in the days prior to India's entrance into the next phase of "unlocking" on July 1 2020, this behaviour change communication campaign is a national effort to institutionalise the "new normal" of community interactions during and after the pandemic.
  
   
• 10.#TibaNiSisi ("We Are the Cure")
  Safe Hands Kenya is a coalition of businesses and community organisations that have come together to address COVID-19 in Kenya by delivering soap, hand-washing stations, and masks. Realising that it is not enough to provide these tools - people need to know how to use them, and must actually want to use them - the alliance of companies created a nationwide communication campaign to drive new hygiene-related behaviours. Launched in April 2020, #TibaNiSisi, or "We Are The Cure" in Swahili aims to motivate all Kenyans to play an active and leading role in protecting vulnerable community members through good hygiene practices.
  
   

• 11.Strategic Considerations for Mitigating the Impact of COVID-19 on Key-Population-Focused HIV Programs
  According to the Maintaining Epidemic Control (EpiC) project, a priority during the COVID-19 pandemic is ensuring continuity of treatment and support for viral suppression among people living with HIV (PLHIV) and helping those who are at risk remain HIV negative. This resource offers strategies to reduce the impact of COVID-19 on key population (KP) programme beneficiaries and staff while safely maintaining access to HIV prevention, care, and treatment services. Developed for KP-focused HIV programmes implemented or supported by FHI 360, an EpiC partner, in the Caribbean, Asia, and Africa, it is accompanied by related resources shared as part of a webinar hosted around this strategy document. [Apr 2020]
  
   
• 12.A Guide to Open Government and the Coronavirus
  This guide is designed to be a "one-stop shop" for resources on how open government projects and approaches can support tackling the COVID-19 pandemic. It was created through a participatory process that engaged the Open Government Partnership (OGP)'s 78 country and 20 local members, who work alongside thousands of civil society organisations worldwide to promote open government, empower citizens, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to strengthen governance. The guide features over 350 crowdsourced examples from that open government community. [Jun 2020]
  
   
• 13.Practice Guide: Behaviour Change Communication during Crisis
  by Anastasiya Nurzhynska and Maria Fronoschuk
  Nonprofits such as civil society organisations are challenged with 3 main communication issues around COVID-19: promoting health behaviours, mobilising resources, and ensuring smooth remote operations. Behaviour science can help to address all these challenges through message framing, design of user experience, and other nudges. This toolbox provides tips, templates, and messages that are based on different behaviour science techniques. [Jul 2020]
  
   
• 14.Learning Must Go On: Recommendations for Keeping Children Safe and Learning, During and After the COVID-19 Crisis
  This inter-agency brief highlights some of the potential impacts of school closures, with a focus on the most marginalised, including those already living in crisis and conflict contexts. It provides recommendations for governments and donors, together with partners, to ensure that safe, quality, and inclusive learning reaches all children and that education systems are ready for the return to school. [Apr 2020]
  
   
• 15.The Role of Media in Covering the COVID-19 Outbreak: Webinar
  This 2-part webinar offers guidance to journalists on how to convey and help their audiences understand COVID-19 response efforts, such as self-isolation and quarantine, and means of preventing transmission. It was hosted by Internews Global Health Media Advisor Ida Jooste along with representatives of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the World Health Organization (WHO), and BBC Media Action. [Mar 2020]
  
   

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