The infoasaid report - Haiti 2010: the communication challenge in earthquake, cholera and hurricane response - to be released soon, aims at identifying and capturing lessons about the design, implementation and evaluation of communication strategies developed and deployed as part of the Haiti responses, both to the earthquake and to cholera. The report has gathered evidence, where possible, about the extent to which particular communications strategies enhanced the quality of humanitarian response. It also identifies and and captures lessons about how to drive change within individual aid agencies including at the global level in order to improve communication with the affected population.
The Internews' local research team led by Jennifer Mandel is establishing itself as an independent research firm called the Bureau de Recherches Économiques et Sociales Intégrées (BRESI), or the Office for Integrated Economic and Social Research (in English). The BRESI surveyed 1,400 people individually and 440 people in focus groups in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps and in rural and urban areas, particularly where the November 2010 cholera outbreak was most severe. The cholera communication campaign consisted of specialized radio and television programs, SMS messages, billboards, and Public Service Announcements (PSAs) that were developed by the Haitian Ministry of Health with support from organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF or Action contre la Faim, to mention just a few, alongside CDAC Haiti. For more information on this research please read: For Haitians, Radio is Key Information Source on Cholera.
Speakers
Imogen Wall, independent humanitarian consultant and author of a report commissioned by infoasaid on beneficiary communication practices in Haiti: Haiti 2010: the communication challenge in earthquake, cholera and hurricane response (forthcoming).
Jennifer Mandel, PhD, Internews’ Deputy Country Director and Research Director in Haiti. Mandel was part of the initial response team to the Haiti January 2010 earthquake and will speak about: ‘Research on the Impact of Cholera Communication Campaigns in Haiti’.
Discussant : Randolph Kent, PhD, directs the Humanitarian Futures Programme at Kings College, London, where he and his staff have worked since 2006 with various multilateral, bilateral and non-governmental organizations at headquarters and in country offices to enhance their strategic and planning capacities for dealing with long-term humanitarian threats.
Chair : Rachel Houghton, Global Coordinator for the Communicating with Disaster Affected Communities (CDAC) Network.
Refreshments will be available. There will also be an opportunity for Q&A as part of this event.
Please RSVP to Craig Tucker of the CDAC Network on: craig.tucker@cdacnetwork.org by Friday 15thJuly 2011.