infoasaid

The two main objectives of the project are to strengthen the capacity and preparedness of aid agencies to respond to the information and communication needs of crisis-affected populations and also to partner with a number of aid agencies to help inform and support their communications response in a variety of emergency contexts. To achieve these objectives, a number of tools have been developed:

• Media and Telcoms Landscape Guides are being produced for 22 countries at risk of natural disasters and/or conflict. These online guides are designed as a tool for humanitarian responders seeking to communicate effectively with crisis-affected communities. Each guide provides a picture of the media and telecommunications landscape, information on media consumption patterns, radio and TV coverage maps, and a contact directory of media and telecoms operators.
• A library of generic messages, which is an online searchable database of generic humanitarian messages that have been peer reviewed by humanitarian experts in a number of different clusters/sectors including: health; water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH); nutrition; food security, protection (child protection, gender-based violence (GBV), mine risk education); education; and camp coordination/camp management (natural disaster). The messages include warnings and alerts, advice on risks and threats, instructions on how to mitigate them, and prompts for programmatic interventions. Organisers stress that the message library is designed to be used as a reference tool, and each message should be translated, piloted, and adapted to suit the local context and to ensure comprehension before dissemination.
• The 'Communication is Aid' e-learning course aims to raise awareness about the key components of effective communication with crisis-affected communities and to build knowledge and understanding on how to communicate in practice. The course is divided into five modules. The first two introduce learners to the course and the key concepts it covers. The remaining three modules are interactive, scenario-based challenges that involve learners having to make key decisions to do with communication during an earthquake, a post-conflict situation and a hurricane/flood.
• infoasaid's Diagnostic Tools aim to support community/audience profiling, information needs and access assessments, and feasibility assessments related to different channels of communication. infoasaid has also developed guidance on communications strategies and an information sheet on the characteristics of different channels of communication.
• infoasaid's Research component is focused on three key areas: review and documentation of current practice in the sector with regard to communication with crisis-affected communities; capturing learning from infoasaid's responses in partnership with aid agencies in order to strengthen the evidence base; and the production of an Overseas Development Institute (ODI)/Humanitarian Practice Network (HPN) Network Paper encapsulating all of infoasaid's experience and learning upon completion of the project.

Development Assistance, Risk Management.

Internews and the BBC Media Action are members of Communicating with Disaster Affected Communities (CDAC), whose central objective is to provide a coordinated service to enable humanitarian operations to get lifesaving information to affected populations and to channel their voices back to the providers of assistance working with local media and non-mass-media communications. infoasaid is a steering committee member of the CDAC Network.