Definition and Key Messages to Support Advocacy and Action for Communication with Communities

"In the context of humanitarian action Communication with Communities, which is sometimes abbreviated to CwC, refers to activities where the exchange of information is used to save lives, mitigate risk, enable greater accountability and shape the response, as well as supporting the communication needs of people caught up in conflicts, natural disasters and other crises."

This guidance document from the Communicating with Disaster Affected Communities (CDAC) Network is designed to assist those who are engaged in advocacy as part of communicating with communities (CwC) efforts. Framed within the United Nations (UN) Declaration of Human Rights, 10 overarching key messages are listed along with examples from CDAC's experience (see also Related Summaries below). For instance, it is suggested that, for each humanitarian response, "there must be a joint system established under the UN Humanitarian Coordinator that collates information and data gathered from communities, disseminates 'news you can use', tracks trending conversations, and allows for feedback to shape the aid response and involve people in decisions. "An essential component of this approach is partnerships that go beyond the humanitarian sphere, and may include a wide range of abilities such as survey specialists, media both local, national and regional, technology providers, civil society, faith based groups and the private sector. Fundamentally however there needs to be approaches that recognise the equal value of diversity, local knowledge and information to any aid effort."

Also included are the experiences of other organisations that show how CwC has secured results. For instance, when a large number of unvaccinated children contributed to measles outbreaks in Kenya in 2011/2012, "the government and health partners launched a campaign that reached more than 6 million children. According to the WHO sponsored Measles and Rubella Initiative that result was achieved in no small measure thanks to a variety of communication strategies that included marginalised communities. In a web story the initiative stated 'Health workers in the Kamukunji district of Nairobi, which is home to a large Somali migrant community, translated all materials into Somali language, and recruited mobilizers from within the community'. Concerns were identified early and answered. "We identified all the potential negative forces that would affect the measles campaign and engaged their leaders to have a buy-in into the exercise and we had fewer cases of resistance to the measles vaccination campaign," said Samson Thuo, Communications Officer in the Kenyan Ministry of Health.'

Click here for the 4-page document in Word format.