Risk Communication and Community Engagement: Positive Practices from Europe during COVID

"Refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced (IDPs) and stateless persons should have access to clear, factual and updated information to be able to protect themselves, their families and the communities in which they live."

This paper is a compilation of promising practices on risk communication and community engagement (RCCE) that have developed in Europe during the COVID pandemic. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is documenting and sharing such practices in an effort to inspire new initiatives, foster exchange, and further develop a community of practice within the region. It is a complement to the UNHCR's Practical Recommendations and Good Practice to Address Protection Concerns in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic [PDF].

UNHCR explains that, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, information can be life-saving and is crucial to ensure equal and non-discriminatory access to health and other basic services. In Europe, one of UNHCR's operational priorities in response to the pandemic is therefore to support public health efforts by ensuring that all "persons of concern" - refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced (IDPs), and stateless persons - have access to information in languages, formats, and media that are contextually appropriate and accessible to all groups within the different communities.

UNHCR's approach is grounded in the conviction that two-way communication is essential to enable people to share their feedback, ideas, and proposed solutions to be part of the COVID-19 response. In Europe, refugee networks have been developing and disseminating prevention and hygiene messages. Volunteers are supporting outreach to vulnerable people and are filling gaps in service provision created by movement restrictions and office closures, including through peer-to-peer support, the development of online activities, and the distribution of material support. UNHCR's continued engagement with communities allows for its activities to complement and reinforce such initiatives.

As detailed here, with a view to developing targeted operational responses and advocacy approaches, UNHCR has engaged in dialogue with communities in Europe, which has facilitated monitoring and analysis of the dynamic and rapidly changing situation in each country and varied and evolving protection risks facing persons of concern. Many government authorities, UNHCR offices and partners, and communities themselves have developed communication approaches as part of the COVID-19 response that UNHCR says could contribute to enhanced community engagement across Europe also after the public health emergency has subsided, provided they are maintained and adapted as needed.

For example, persons of concern have seen a rapid increase of online tools and platforms to connect, inform, and support them during lockdown and isolation, including UNHCR help pages and official webpages, as well as multi-lingual hotlines and call centres that governments across Europe have established and adapted to persons of concern (see the report for examples). However, UNHCR points out that not everyone has the connectivity or equipment to use such resources; concerted efforts are required to effectively reach all populations of concern. When privacy-friendly platforms and tools are not available and/or accessible by persons of concern, data protection risks should be mitigated as much as possible, UNHCR stresses.

The report provides several examples of (and links to) videos and auditory material with risk mitigation and hygiene messages that UNHCR claims have been effective tools in the COVID-19 response - in particular when developed by, and featuring, persons of concern.

Refugees and other persons of concern have also mobilised through social media and other digital platforms, such as those briefly described in the report, to share information and offer support. These platforms have also reportedly provided government authorities, UNHCR, and partners with a rapid, effective, and low-cost medium of communication with displaced and stateless communities during the pandemic.

The report provides several illustrations of ways in which engagement of refugee, IDP, and stateless communities in the COVID-19 response has helped in the development, dissemination, and evaluation of public health campaigns, as well as in the identification of protection risks and reinforcement of community initiatives. Building on existing networks in the region, UNHCR and its partners seek to mobilise and empower refugees and other persons of concern and identify further opportunities to promote meaningful participation and broader community engagement in the COVID-19 response. For instance, in Malta and Cyprus, refugee representatives and outreach volunteers act as the interface between UNHCR and communities of concern, amplifying the voices of the community and supporting the dissemination of information material. In Georgia, exchanges between UNHCR and IDP community volunteers are meant to ensure that needs are identified in a timely manner and conveyed to the responsible state agency.

Across Europe, efforts are being made to ensure that prevention and risk education reaches persons of concern. For example, the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health and the State Secretariat for Migration have produced various factsheets on COVID-19, which have been translated into 15 languages and posted in all federal reception centres. UNHCR and partners across the region are reinforcing such public health efforts by translating, printing, and adapting relevant information material from the World Health Organization (WHO) and national health authorities. UNHCR also works closely with communities to ensure that messages are tailored to the cultural, language, and communication preferences of persons of concern within each context and adapted to the needs of children, older persons, minority groups, and persons with disabilities. Additional efforts to ensure that risk education reaches all persons of concern are outlined; for instance, along the "contact line" in Ukraine, where many vulnerable households and older persons do not have access to television, radio, or the internet, UNHCR and its partner Proliska use loudspeakers to communicate COVID-19 prevention messages to isolated communities in 10 locations.

Throughout the region, UNHCR works closely with other UN agencies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), community-based and refugee-led organisations, and national authorities to harmonise approaches and avoid duplication in relation to the COVID-19 response.

Editor's note: To read more about UNHCR's work globally to put people first (accountability to affected populations - AAP) in the context of the pandemic, click here [PDF]. This summary document provides examples of how UNHCR operations in the field are leveraging new technology and, through their community-based protection approach, expanding partnerships with community leaders, influencers, and volunteers to ensure continued participation, inclusion, communication, feedback, and response.