Global community of professionals working in Communication for Development
“The success of the DontGoViral campaign underlines the resilience and creativity of women and men on the African Continent to harness the power of cultural diversity to effectively combat the infodemic that is proving to be just as viral as the pandemic itself. Their contributions highlight the fact that cultural players are a much-needed part of the solution,” said Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO.
Fruit d’une collaboration entre Facebook Inc., le Ministère de la Santé Publique et l’UNICEF, le Niger a officiellement lancé ce jour un « ChatBot » sur le réseau social Whatsapp, pour permettre à tous les utilisateurs de disposer d’informations fiables et à jour sur la situation du Covid-19 au Niger et pour répondre à tout questionnement autour de la maladie.
“…our field wasn’t ready for a pandemic. We had no behavioral playbook on nudges, defaults, and other strategies for improving social distancing, mask use, remote learning, home-based work, and social transfers.”
When policymakers consider how to respond to a public health crisis, they tend to think in terms of quarantines, medical equipment supplies, and travel restrictions. Yet they too often miss a vital factor that countries like South Korea and Singapore recognized long ago—that public communications are just as crucial. Effective communication increases compliance with public health directives and saves lives.