Actions to Support Media, Enhance Access to Information, and Leverage Digital Technologies in the Fight Against the Pandemic

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UNESCO is the UN agency with a specific mandate to promote “free flow of ideas by word and image”. It welcomes the immense efforts of communication and information communities to tackle the current COVID-19 crisis, including:

  • sharing lifesaving information, debunking misinformation,
  • strengthening the implementation of the fundamental right to information,
  • leveraging the use of public interest media, ICTs and OER for e-learning, and connecting people online.

UNESCO is closely monitoring the impact of this crisis on media freedom, safety of journalists, and the fundamental right to access information.

In a context of unprecedented challenges for the media and digital technology sectors, UNESCO has created a “resource center” of selected responses to COVID-19.
It includes a collection of examples of actions related to communication and information made available for the purpose of:

  • Sharing practices
  • Identifying priorities
  • Facilitating partnerships
  • Amplifying good practices
  • Providing advice and technical assistance to governments and relevant national stakeholders
  • Fostering North-South, South-South, and triangular cooperation

This “clearing house” provides a non-exhaustive list of illustrative examples. It will continue to evolve with the COVID-19 pandemic and the quick development of responses.

Source: Actions to Support Media, Enhance Access to Information, and Leverage Digital Technologies in the Fight Against the Pandemic

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    COVID-19 Crisis Comms Triage Kit

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    The Communications Network created this site to share and crowdsource best practices, resources, and examples of effective crisis communication from foundations and nonprofits covering the pandemic.

    Users are encouraged to add their own information about upcoming events, seminars, webinars, and resources.

    Source: COVID-19 Crisis Comms Triage Kit

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      COVID-19 Toolbox

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      This toolbox offers resources on general guidance for COVID-19, as well as specific guidance for clinical aspects, public health, communication, and guidance for clinical aspects, public health, communication, and guidance for different audiences.

      Source: COVID-19 Toolbox

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        A Coordinated Public-Private Sector Response in Liberia to COVID-19

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        In February 2020, the Healthcare Federation of Liberia (HFL) was officially launched and elected its first governing board. The HFL will provide coordination among all private health stakeholders across Liberia and act as a consolidated voice to advocate for improved quality of care and increased collaboration with the Ministry of Health.

        The launch of the federation followed an assessment of Liberia’s private health sector, conducted by the USAID-funded Health Policy Plus project in 2019, which identified the need for a unifying body as a vehicle to improve the private health system. The HFL’s organizational strategy was to focus on strengthening standards within—and accreditation of—private facilities, providing access to business financing and supplies of essential commodities, such as for family planning.

        However, on March 16, 2020, Liberia recorded its first COVID-19 case. As of April 10, Liberia has recorded 37 cases and five deaths. The most important task for the HFL in its first month of operation, therefore, became coordinating an effective private sector response to COVID-19.  This report tells the story of how Liberia responded to the pandemic.

        Source: A Coordinated Public-Private Sector Response in Liberia to COVID-19

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          Using Social and Behavioural Science to Support COVID-19 Pandemic Response

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          The COVID-19 pandemic represents a massive global health crisis. Because the crisis requires large-scale behavior change and places significant psychological burdens on individuals, insights from the social and behavioral sciences can be used to help align human behavior with the recommendations of epidemiologists and public health experts.

          In this article from Nature, the authors discuss evidence from a selection of research topics relevant to pandemics, including work on navigating threats, social and cultural influences on behavior, science communication, moral decision-making, leadership, and stress and coping. In each section, they note the nature and quality of prior research, including uncertainty and unsettled issues. They identify several insights for effective response to the COVID-19 pandemic and highlight important gaps researchers should move quickly to fill in the coming weeks and months.

          Source: Using Social and Behavioural Science to Support COVID-19 Pandemic Response

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            WHO COVID-19 Learning Resources Application

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            The WHO mobile learning app focuses on providing frontline health workers with critical, evidence-based information and tools to improve their skills and capabilities related to the pandemic.

            This COVID-19 Digital Response offers up-to-the-minute guidance, training, and virtual workshops to support health workers in caring for patients infected by COVID-19, as well as how they can protect themselves as they do their critical work.

            The app was created in direct response to an online survey of health workers conducted in March and April 2020 that received 20,000 submissions. Key features include learning guidance, learning materials, and tools organized into the following COVID-19 subject matter areas:

            • Case Management: How to care for COVID-19 patients
            • Infection Prevention Control: Protecting health worker and the community
            • Risk Communication and Community Engagement: Communicating effectively with the public
            • Epidemiology: Distribution, characteristics, and determinants of COVID-19
            • Statistics: Updated news and statistics on the COVID-19 pandemic
            • Laboratory: Testing for COVID-19 in humans
            • Health Services and Systems: Strategic planning and coordinated action
            • International Health Regulations: Public health and international spread of disease
            • Research & Development: Working towards a treatment and a vaccine
            • Operational Support and Logistics
            • Regional Information

            The WHO mobile learning app is a convenient tool for accessing WHO’s rapidly expanding and evolving training materials and guidance, along with opportunities to participate in virtual classrooms and other live training in six global languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish.

            Source: WHO COVID-19 Learning Resources Application

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              Applying Principles of Behaviour Change to Reduce SARS-CoV-2 Transmission

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              This paper focuses on adherence to behaviors required to reduce COVID-19 virus transmission. The authors argue that there is an urgent need to develop and evaluate interventions to promote effective enactment of these behaviors and provide a preliminary analysis to help guide this. This is relevant for the current phase of the pandemic and to reduce the risk of resurgence in months to come and of future pandemics.

              Source: Applying Principles of Behaviour Change to Reduce SARS-CoV-2 Transmission

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                COVID-19 House to House Community Outreach Protocol

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                This protocol provides guidance to CGP-GHS Project staff on how to ensure the health and safety of community health volunteers (CHVs) and the unintentional spread of COVID-19 in the community. The need to conduct community-based surveillance and health promotion needs to be weighed against the risk of endangering either CHVs or community members while conducting house-to-house surveillance and health education and promotion activities.

                This protocol is the current position of CGP-GHS Project regarding community outreach activities in the context of COVID-19. The epidemiology of the outbreak remains unclear, and therefore the global community is relying on standard outbreak response protocol to disrupt transmission of COVID-19. Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) is cross-cutting in all areas of outbreak response but is primarily the tool to inform the public on risk and prevention measures. One of the most effective ways to communicate risk and the behavior changes that are required to prevent disease is through health education and promotion at the household level.

                Source: COVID-19 House to House Community Outreach Protocol

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                  Message Toolkit (Version 2) – Risk Communication for COVID-19

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                  This is the second version of the Message Toolkit developed by the Philippine Department of Health (DOH) together with USAID’s Breakthrough ACTION project, UNICEF and WHO. It contains additional messages about recent developments in the COVID-19 response.

                  Source: Message Toolkit (Version 2) – Risk Communication for COVID-19

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                    Message Toolkit Version 1 – Risk Communication for COVID-19

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                    This Message Toolkit was developed by the Philippine Department of Health (DOH) together with USAID’s Breakthrough ACTION project, UNICEF and WHO. It was designed to help the DOH staff, local government stakeholders, non-government organizations, international organizations and others to communicate consistently and effectively about COVID-19.

                    It is a one-stop-shop for all messages about COVID-19. The messages here have been reviewed and approved by the Department of Health (DOH). You are welcome to put your “spin” on them and get creative, but please do not deviate from the facts.

                    This is a living document that will be added to as needed.

                    Source: Message Toolkit Version 1 – Risk Communication for COVID-19

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