Presentation at the University of East Anglia - for Media Development students on the Humanitarian Information Services of Internews

1. Stijn Aelbers
Humanitarian Advisor
The richness of rumours
&
The limitations of facts

2. About
myself
Journalist in Belgium
Communication & Media
Officer for UNPA in Uganda
Humanitarian Advisor with
Internews

4. About the
Humanitarian
System

5. Communication is aid

6. The$5$Levels$of$Communica3on$with$Communi3es$
INFORM$<$One$Way,$Accurate,$
Timely,$Relevant$Messages$
LISTEN$<$Gather$input$<$tailor$
output$
DISCUSS$–$Regular$mee3ngs$with$
representa3ves$
ENGAGE$–$con3nuous,$open$
channels$to$encourage$input$$
(RE)ACT$–$Programs$adjusted$to$
local$input$$
Pre<designed$Messaging$
(Posters,$PSAs,$…)$
Understand$the$context$
(FGDs,$KAP$Surveys,$…)$
to$contextualize$
communica3on.$$Translate,$
tailor,$turn$into$theater,…$
Community$leaders$(youth,$
women,$…)$to$discuss$
ac3vi3es,$share$
informa3on$with$
community$
Open$community$events,$$
hotlines,$helpdesks,$call<in$
radio,$…$feedback$is$
documented$and$shared$
with$program$staff$$
Re<strategize,$Re<design,$
collaborate$–$being$
accountable$

7. 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.”
From www.cdacnetwork.org

8. Some CwC-Internews projects
https://internews.org/our-
stories/project-
updates/boda-boda-talk-talk
https://internews.org/our-
stories/project-updates/can-
you-stop-rumour
https://internews.org/our-
stories/project-updates/news-
that-moves-rumor-tracker
Ebola-project in Liberia
https://internews.org/our-
stories/project-
updates/combatting-
rumors-about-ebola-sms-
done-right

9. Earthquake
Nepal 2015
Case Study

10. 1. Assessment
• What information do people need?
• How do people like to receive information?
• What is already in place?
• How can we adapt our models to local situation?

11. ‘Media is for the city centric. At the moment there’s no phone or radio.
So your approach of coming and talking to us would be very good.
Especially for the more remote areas’
(Information Needs Assessment 10 May 2015 – Viviane L.
Fluck/Internews
Scattered impact
centralized response

12. The 2011 national
census lists 123
languages spoken as a
mother tongue (first
language) in Nepal
(wikipedia)
‘I don’t speak Nepali so I don’t really talk to
anybody much’.
(Information Needs Assessment 10 May 2015 –
Viviane L. Fluck/Internews)
Diverse population
Uniform communication

13. 2. Ambition?
Set up
an
inclusive
two way communication
in a fragmented geographical region
in local language(s)

14. Locally embedded
Provide building blocks
Detailed
Open channels
3. Design
Collection = distribution
Facts, not stories
Conversations, not questions
Qualitative, not quantitative

15. 4. Who we worked with
• Strong local focus
• Strong connection with
local government
• Weak connection with
humanitarian agencies
• Limited regional scope
• Wide regional network
• Strong top down
management
• Weak connection with
humanitarian agencies
• No communication culture

16. The Rumour
Anonymous, but with a
reference to location,
indicating it’s genuine and
making it easier for people
to relate to it
The Fact
Beyond ”True” or ”False”,
but unwrapping the
concern and provide
actionable information
The Contact
Local (!) & Reliable for
follow up
information/action
5. What it looked like

17. 6. Sharing & Collating
http://cfp.org.np

18. 7. What worked?
• It was used/actionable
• 400 journalists received the weekly Open Mic Issues
• 18 radio stations developed radio shows based on the Open Mic Issues
• 600 humanitarians received the weekly Open Mic issues
• Common Feedback Platform-coordinators distributed it widely
• It was shared among field staff to inform
• Research indicated it was used during planning meetings
• It was liked/sustainable
• Oxfam funded it after initial funding ran out
• Humanitarian Coordinator continued approach after Open Mic Project
closed down
• It was fun/innovative
• Multi-platform: radio + face-to-face + online
• Local voices brought to humanitarian country level

19. 8. What didn’t?
• Diversity
• Not enough women – although the model was designed to facilitate face-to-face
communication to be more inclusive
• Not enough languages, although one radio station started producing informative
programs in Tamang
• Scale
• Not covering the whole affected region – although humanitarian agencies shared
the Open Mic issues widely, collection was limited, also due to limited uptake
among Red Cross volunteers
• Funding
• Approach & partnerships – lack of visibility & understanding of role of Internews
“[In my village] men in power have all the information"
35 years old woman, May 10th 2015, Sindhupalchowk
Internews needs assessment/Viviane L. Fluck

20. General principles

21. Open our doors
What we
should do
And create an environment in which people are
comfortable to share information

22. Why?
• Because they have their own priorities
• Because they have their own language
• Because they have their own solutions
• Because it’s not about us

24. Rumours force us to change our
attitude
&
approaches

26. Open channels
Open questions
Open communication
So…
Allow people to decide what they like to
share, how they like to share it

28. WHY LOCAL STAFF ARE THE BEST
and–still- are largely underused
What?
How? – globally
Who?
How? - locally
Health
Shelter
Education
…
Local habits
Local preferences
Local structures
….
INTERNATIONALS
(NGOs, UN, …)
AFFECTED
POPULATIONLocal
staff

29. their questions
their solutions
their ideas
So…
Facilitate & support

30. Facilitated
E.T.
The
Movie

31. In a language they like
Through people they trust
So…
Information doesn’t trickle down,
nor does it just pour in

32. Sustainable

33. use existing channels
&
principles of good journalism
So…
It’s methodology, not technology

34. Continuous

35. Some waves are bigger than others, but
1 rumour
is enough to take action
So…
actions can be continuously shaped and
reshaped by them

37. Challenges
Facts aren’t always stronger than rumours & opinions

38. Facts…

39. in context

40. Scale
Processing qualitative data takes
more time, money & people

41. How to measure impact?

42. Sustainable -> Locals part of every step in process
Modest -> what is achievable?
Approachable -> key-staff available for local media
Re-active -> demand-driven vs supply-driven
Transparent -> why & how, not just what & where
So…(some suggestions)

43. Any questions?
saelbers@internews.org
@stttijn
www.Internews.org
#commisaid