The good practice case studies on youth engagement and leadership in COVID-19 response showcase how young people and youth-led organizations worldwide have been at the forefront of responding to the needs of their communities throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
These case studies from Micronesia, Bangladesh, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Jordan, Australia, and the Asia South-Pacific region, demonstrate good practices by youth-oriented organizations and networks in risk communication and community engagement (RCCE). The meaningful engagement of young people at their community level and the promotion of their leadership for their sustained engagement are two key and distinct actions that were witnessed when tackling issues in communities.
As examples, they aim to be a resource for organizations to implement good practices when working with young people. This includes youth engagement and youth empowerment as essential parts of coordination that contribute to the prevention, preparedness, and response to future public health emergencies.
The good practices include Case Study 1: UNICEF Pacific supports Micronesia Red Cross Society (MRCS) youths in the fight against COVID-19 in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) – Micronesia Red Cross Society and UNICEF Pacific, Federated States of Micronesia; Case Study 2: Young Women Raise-Awareness and Generate Income in Combating COVID-19 – BINDU Women Development / BINDU Nari Unnayan Sangatha and UN WOMEN Bangladesh; Case Study 3: Youth-Led Risk Communication and Outreach for Rural Communities – Young Urban Women’s Movement, Ghana; Case Study 4: Adolescent Girls’ Empowerment Leading to Outreach for COVID-19 Awareness – UNICEF Guinea-Bissau; Case Study 5: Youth Leadership Skills and Economic Empowerment Amidst the COVID Crisis – Dar Abu Abdallah (DAA) and UNICEF Jordan, Jordan; Case Study 6: ‘Day in the Life’ Video Series of Young People During the Pandemic – Multicultural Youth Advocacy Network (MYAN), Australia; Case Study 7: Youth-led Action Research on the Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Marginalized Youth, Asia South-Pacific Association for Basic and Adult Education (ASPBAE).
The design of the interventions emphasized participation, skills building, and local-level partnerships. Training on COVID-19 health information as well as on appropriate communication and outreach strategies, contributed to the effective implementation of RCCE. This, in turn, contributed to the personal and professional development of the youth and allowed for their recognition by the community.
These case studies demonstrate the importance of stakeholder engagement and building partnerships as key strategies, and they showcase a wide variety of risk communication activities such as the production and dissemination of materials, interpersonal communication at te community level such as house-to-house awareness-raising, demonstrations, and community dialogues, and the use of radio and online communication channels. The case studies offer useful insights into RCCE methods, such as the importance of encouraging community participation in awareness-raising efforts and in utilizing social listening and localized approaches. They also show the linkages between Social and Behavior Change (SBC) approaches driven by youth leadership and engagement that include community mobilization, policy influence, systems strengthening, and improving service access.
The case studies have been selected by the Youth Engagement Subgroup YES! of the Collective Service (UNICEF, WHO, IFRC, GOARN) as an initiative of UNICEF, UNAIDS, and the Collective Helpdesk with the support of UN WOMEN and the Compact for Young People in Humanitarian Action, as part of an open call for good practices to document, analyze, and promote youth engagement and youth leadership across countries and regions.
As COVID-19 vaccination programmes enter their third year, existing challenges to programmes combine with new needs, complexities, and hesitancies. Vaccination programmes require innovative solutions to scale up COVID-19 vaccination efforts, from administering booster doses to reaching those who have yet to receive their first COVID-19 vaccination. This synthesis presents an overview of the vaccination context in three Eastern and Southern Africa Region countries.
This brief is a rapid synthesis of socio-behavioural evidence relating to the 2022 cholera outbreak in Malawi intended for national and international response partners. It focuses on interpreting this evidence to inform the design and delivery of effective communication and engagement strategies putting communities at the centre of the response.
COVID-19 vaccination landscape in Namibia is uneven in the various age groups with a 24.7% of the target population being fully vaccinated, out of which only a paltry 3.28% second dose for children aged 12-13 and 4.5% second dose for children aged 14-17 respectively as of January 13th, 2022. The Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) Pillar under the Ministry of Health and Social Services Covid-19 Response has made plans to Strengthen Community Feedback Mechanisms (CFM), to address rumours, misinformation, and concerns around vaccines as well as to support the regions with collecting information in an Interagency coordinated manner. Strengthening sub national CFMs contribute immensely to the management of COVID -19 vaccine hesitancy. Setting up effective CFM will enable the Ministry of Health and Social Services to create an effective evidence-based response by better understanding the concerns, share information and manage the rumours circulating in the country. It is against this background that the National Risk Communication and Community Engagement through UNICEF’s Collective Services, will provide technical support in strengthening the National and the subnational CFM through training government and partners, reviewing CFM tools, improving the Information management systems, and standardising the data collection and analysis processes across partners which will feed into Government CFM platforms. The collective Service has been requested to support the Government of Namibia to establish a functional CFM through and in country surge support which is currently ongoing .
Goal
The goal of the Ministry of Health and Social Services is to ensure the success of the vaccination rollout program which relies on individuals’ acceptance of the vaccines. It is well recognized that intention does not always correlate with actual behaviour, including vaccination. With support from the Collective Service the Government will strengthen CFMs in Khomas, Kunene, Omusati, Ohangwena and Kavango West regions, understanding the types of data, data collection processes, use of standardised tools, establish technical committees responsible for data coding, analysis and production of CFM dashboards and ensuring translation of feedback into action is prioritised.
Ongoing Trainings
At subnational level 1 day trainings in Khomas, Kunene, Omusati, Ohangwena and Kavango regions will mainly focus on understanding the field level data collection tools, data collection processes and roles and responsibilities. The participants included government- MoH, ministry of education, ministry of youths, gender and employment, Ministry of justice- Police and state security, and partners – Unicef, Red Cross, WHO, and local NGOs.
At national level all RCCE partners will received a 2 day training which will cover all components of CFM- contextualisation of tools, data collection, data coding , data analysis, translation of feedbacks into action, development of CFM SoPs, Development of data flow matrix and reporting schedules.
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07MAY
Community Protection Partners Meeting: communities at the center of managing health emergencies
12:00 – 16:00 CET
In 2023, WHO Member States endorsed a proposal from the WHO Director General for a strengthened Health Emergency Preparedness, Response and Resilience (HEPR) global architecture. Community Protection is a core part of this framework. Delivering community protection means putting people and communities that are affected by an emergency at the centre of decisions and actions aimed at protecting their health and well-being. It covers three integrated areas of work:
1. Technical approaches that involve and engage with those affected, including community engagement, risk communication and infodemic management to guide priority actions and strengthen community resilience.
2. Population and environmental public health interventions to control outbreaks and mitigate their effects on the health of those affected.
3. Multisectoral action to account for and mitigate social and economic impacts of emergencies and their responses.
Hosted by the Community Readiness and Resilience Unit, Country Readiness Strengthening Department of WHO Health Emergency Program, this event will bring together global to local networks of multilateral organisations, partner agencies, civil society organizations and others that work with communities that are at-risk of or affected by public health emergencies. Through a series of presentation and moderated panel discussions, this meeting will
– Review good practice and progress to date on advancing community-centred health emergency management as enabled by diverse stakeholders across the ecosystem of partners and other agencies that deliver on this agenda.
– Review good practice, challenges, and key actions for advancing community protection.
– Discuss modalities for collaboration and partnership and strengthen the network of networks for community protection.
A key outcome is to define progress, gaps, and priorities for action in delivering strengthened community protection outcomes.
