Improving The Response To Covid-19: Lessons From The Humanitarian Sector Around Communication, Community Engagement And Participation

"With the impending need to start a global COVID-19 vaccination campaign just as further waves of coronavirus are rising again around the world, what can we learn from other health emergencies and humanitarian crises to deal with this one?"

The speed and breadth of the global COVID-19 pandemic overwhelmed the health planning and communication capacity in many countries, even those in the West with sophisticated tools to gather and share information. In light of the confusion, lack of coordination, conflicting policies, and resulting erosion of trust seen in some settings, this paper distils some of the learning gained in the humanitarian aid sector in accountability around two-way communication, community engagement, and the participation of vulnerable people. It explores how these approaches can be applied to support the COVID-19 response in all countries. The paper and accompanying webinar recording (see below) were produced as part of the Communicating with Disaster Affected Communities (CDAC) Network project Keeping ahead of the COVID-19 impact curve in ongoing and emerging disasters using adaptive communication and community engagement approaches, funded by the H2H Network via support by UK Aid from the United Kingdom (UK) government.

The paper identifies 8 key areas where the global pandemic response can be seen to be falling short, along with the lessons from the humanitarian sector to help remedy them through people-centred strategies:

1. Put people and principles - not politics - at the centre of COVID-19 decision-making - Humanitarian principles should guide the design and management of COVID-19 responses, with a particular focus on applying the principles of humanity and impartiality. Responses should consider the diverse needs of different vulnerable groups in the population. They should prioritise assistance in proportion to needs, delivered in ways that are fair, accessible, equitable, and inclusive.
2. Reframe discussions about responsibility in a pandemic so that those who are considered vulnerable are a priority rather than an afterthought - Authorities and decision-makers should reframe whom they answer to so that their focus is primarily on the people and communities who are most vulnerable and at risk from the impact of the pandemic - not those who administer or pay for the programmes. They should establish mechanisms to integrate people-centred approaches to participation, communications, and feedback into COVID-19 assistance programmes, following standards such as those established by the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS).
3. Prepare ways to share sophisticated information quickly in complex but predictable emergencies so that knowledge, trust, and resources in the population can be leveraged when these events happen - Investing in long-term community participation, community engagement, and communication strategies would enable authorities and decision-makers know ahead of time what people's preferred communication methods and channels are. Data on vulnerable people and communities' existing capacities, needs, and preferences around communication and engagement need to be documented, disseminated, and updated regularly.
4. Have communication channels and cooperation plans for all governmental and non-governmental authorities and organisations available so that the response is coordinated and understandable to the community - Authorities and decision-makers everywhere should establish and strengthen common collective platforms to coordinate efforts to communicate and consult with each other in order to collect and analyse feedback and inputs on the quality and effectiveness of responses. All responders need to know how to use this information to support a coordinated process that does not confuse people by giving out conflicting information or conflicting policies.
5. Find ways for people to get involved and have a meaningful say in the response: Make this the cornerstone of any COVID-19 communication plan - Participation measures should include safe, accessible, equitable, and inclusive opportunities for  vulnerable people to express views and opinions on the most suitable approaches to address their needs and priorities and to take an active role in the design, delivery, management, and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of COVID-19 responses.
6. Work to re-engage communities as participating partners: Have mechanisms to leverage local and volunteer groups to maximise their knowledge expertise to increase the effectiveness of the COVID-19 response - These strategies should look at vulnerable people and communities as equal partners, not as "targets" or "beneficiaries" and should respect their preferences around how they want to participate and engage with external actors. This also requires recognising the knowledge, capacities, and resources that communities can bring to the table. Two principles in a United States (US) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guide, available at Related Summaries, below, could serve as reminders to an external organisation wanting to work with communities: (i) "Remember and accept that collective self-determination is the responsibility and right of all people in a community. No external entity should assume it can bestow on a community the power to act in its own self-interest."; and (ii) "Organizations that wish to engage a community as well as individuals seeking to effect change must be prepared to release control of actions or interventions to the community and be flexible enough to meet its changing needs."
7. Move to more participatory, two-way communications and feedback with vulnerable communities: Find out what channels they really use, not just what we want them to use - Moving away from an over-reliance on top-down communication (e.g., traditional news conferences, press releases, and policy statements) to more participatory, two-way communication approaches allows organisations and communities listen to and learn from each other on how to meet information needs and priorities. Priority communication channels and information need to be available to track and address rumours and misinformation and to help reduce the stigma and discrimination.
8. Empower local agencies and communities to take a lead role in the response so they can truly supplement the response and take charge at a local level - These strategies should acknowledge and prioritise the use of local knowledge, capacities, and resources in the response and commit to transferring decision-making powers and resources to local actors and communities in order to strengthen sustainable capacities to deal with future emergencies and crises.

A plethora of examples provided throughout the paper illustrate not only problematic practices seen in some contexts (e.g., in countries where the pandemic was politicised) but also fruitful risk communication and community engagement (RCCE) approaches. For instance, many aid actors working with refugees and displaced persons in camp settings have leveraged their existing programming and relationships with vulnerable communities to integrate COVID-19 measures into activities. Health messaging was adapted to the new context in consultation with communities, and activities were carried out in partnership with local health promotion networks. These established relationships made it easier to give a greater role to communities in participating in the design and implementation of projects.

In conclusion, the hope is that, by applying humanitarian standards and principles in community engagement, many of the most acute deficiencies not only in the COVID-19 response but in future calamities can be avoided.

Editor's note: Click on the video below to watch a December 3 2020 CDAC webinar recording (1:23:39) of "The Rest and the West", which was based on the findings of the paper summarised above. It gathered together an international panel of experts to interrogate the response of Western governments and to look at how best practice in communication, community engagement, and accountability - principles used in humanitarian response, in countries with significantly fewer resources - could be applied in high-income countries with strong economies and well-established health and social protection networks.