Supporting media and humanitarian practitioners to overcome communication challenges

2022-08-18T09:55:07+00:00

Displaced young Syrians wait to receive humanitarian aid. Credit: Getty Images

The fourth commitment which humanitarian agencies sign up to under the Core Humanitarian Standard states that ‘Communities and people affected by crisis know their rights and entitlements, have access to information and participate in decisions which affect them’. But for humanitarian practitioners, particularly those working in settings where humanitarian access is limited, sharing relevant, accurate information and ensuring communities’ needs and priorities are heard and acted upon can be easier said than done.

Research currently being conducted by ��tv Media Action to inform a new capacity strengthening project funded by USAID Bureau of Humanitarian Affairs, is finding that humanitarian practitioners in the project’s three focus countries (Nigeria, Somalia and Ukraine) face various challenges communicating with communities affected by crises.

In Somalia, humanitarian practitioners we spoke to are facing challenges getting hold of accurate and relevant information themselves to be able to answer people’s questions, as communication and coordination between local and humanitarian organisations is a challenge. In Northern Nigeria, having capacity to communicate in the right languages to reach internally displaced people who often don’t speak the same language as the host community (see Translators without Borders study). And in Ukraine, a recent assessment carried out by REACH in May 2022 identified getting information to people with limited access to digital platforms, as a critical challenge. Across the board, humanitarian practitioners feel their organisations have mechanisms in place to collect feedback from communities, but often these mechanisms are not known about, or not trusted by community members, and are therefore underused, especially by those who are illiterate, have limited access to mobile phones, or live in more remote areas.

Media practitioners we spoke to as part of the research said they face challenges getting access to information which is useful and relevant to their audiences, especially finding contacts within humanitarian organisations who are ready to answer audiences’ questions on air. Some also expressed frustration that they feel they are treated with suspicion by humanitarian organisations, or are contacted to distribute organisations’ press releases rather than create engaging and useful content for audiences. The research so far has found limited interaction between media and humanitarian practitioners in the project’s focus areas.

And these communication challenges are reflected at community level. A recent study (2021) carried out by Ground Truth Solutions with recipients of cash and voucher programmes in Somalia found that 45% of respondents feel informed about available aid; and only 25% of respondents feel aid providers take their opinions into account when designing programmes. Community leaders within IDP camps we spoke to in Somalia felt that although they frequently communicate their communities’ needs to organisations during assessments, this information is rarely listened to and acted upon. A similar Ground Truth Solutions study in Nigeria (2021), found that 48% of respondents do not know what aid is available to them, and 49% feel their opinions are taken into account by humanitarian staff. The REACH assessment in Ukraine found that 66% of participants say they need information about how to register for humanitarian assistance.

People gather to receive humanitarian aid in Sudan. Credit: Getty Images

��tv Media Action has extensive experience supporting humanitarian and media practitioners to communicate more effectively with communities affected by crisis. Most recently, in Bangladesh, where ��tv Media Action and Translators without Borders have been training practitioners responding to the Rohingya Refugee Crisis under the ‘Common Service for community engagement and accountability’ project since 2017, we have found that trainees place a particular value on training and tools to help them communicate in Rohingya language. In a recent evaluation of the project, practitioners emphasised how training has helped them prioritize and develop communication and listening skills, which managers say has led to better community satisfaction.

“We were not sufficiently sensitive to the Rohingya community culture and there were also language barriers. Their perception of different issues were not clear to us. After getting training, staff have changed their methods, how they behave and talk to the communities.’’ Humanitarian practitioner, Cox’s Bazar Bangladesh

Where possible, ��tv Media Action’s approach is to train humanitarian and media practitioners together, building the understanding that both have a critical role to play in ensuring communities have access to information they need. As previous evaluations have also shown, a recent study with participants of ��tv Media Action’s ‘Lifeline training’ in Afghanistan found that the training helped bridge the gap and build understanding and connections between journalists and field practitioners, which they have been able to use in their work.

“The training has changed our relationship with media and journalists. By communicating with social workers and journalists, most of our communication problems are solved. Additionally, the training has increased our capacity in communicating with people in the communities.” Community health worker, Helmand province, Afghanistan

Over the next year, ��tv Media Action will be working with humanitarian and media practitioners in Nigeria, Somalia and Ukraine to support them to overcome challenges they are facing to communicate effectively with communities affected by crisis in these countries. Learning from the project will be shared and disseminated at country and global level.

Nicola Bailey is senior research manager for Asia/Europe at ��tv Media Action, based in London. Co-authors are: ��tv Media Action's Hodan Ibrahim, senior research officer, Somalia; Mohamed Yonis, project director, Somalia; Anu Njamah, head of research, Nigeria and Cian Ginley Ibbotson, project manager, Ukraine.

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Supporting media and humanitarian practitioners to overcome communication challenges