Communicating with Communities in Epidemics & Pandemics: Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) Readiness Kit

"To effectively implement RCCE, organizations will need to be agile and equipped with various options to communicate and engage effectively in different outbreak scenarios. The purpose of this kit is to provide responding NGOs with guidance and tools to help them best prepare for these scenarios."

Risk communication and community engagement (RCCE) uses social science methods, two-way communication, rumour control, and participatory engagement to support communities in mitigating outbreaks and reducing their impact. Humanitarian settings demand effective RCCE because they often present complex challenges that complicate compliance with public health measures. Funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and produced by the READY initiative, this kit is designed to help national and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) (NNGOs/INGOs) respond to public health emergencies, especially in humanitarian settings, by systematically listening to communities and tailoring response interventions accordingly.

The kit begins by exploring RCCE and the community engagement principles that underlie it. It then looks at the operational challenges that may be faced when implementing RCCE during disease outbreaks and examines key RCCE considerations for humanitarian contexts. After outlining RCCE roles and responsibilities, the resource guides readers through a series of readiness actions, linking to practical tools that support their implementation. These steps cover the various stages of an outbreak, including pre-crisis, early onset, mitigation, suppression, and recovery. Closing sections include: glossaries of RCCE-related and epidemiological terms, as well as sources and additional resources for these terms.

The kit was developed through a multi-step process. READY held consultations with 27 global-, regional, and country-level experts in RCCE and humanitarian response and then discussed and verified the challenges and recommendations that emerged with READY's Africa and Asia Regional Advisory Groups. Led by Save the Children, the READY initiative is implemented in partnership with the Johns Hopkins Center for Humanitarian Health, the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs, UK-Med, and the Humanitarian Leadership Academy. (See Related Summaries, below.)