MAYOR’S TOOLKIT to Help Build Trust with Communities During COVID-19 and Beyond The COVID-19 pandemic is laying bare that cities are at the forefront of this crisis. The myriad decisions facing local government are non-stop, and with an almost immediate need to fulfill information demands on what actions are being taken to mitigate the impact of the outbreak on citizens. COVID-19 crisis communication is a key piece in the response plan for cities to ensure that the public clearly understands, trusts, and follows guidelines and orders of the municipal authorities. It is critical for enforcing social distancing measures, preventing panic buying and overflowing of hospitals by patients with mild symptoms. Actions taken during these high-stress situations will determine how communities perceive the effectiveness of measures implemented and largely determine the level of trust under future crisis situations. It is therefore essential for cities to understand how to make messaging genuine and empathetic as they build resilience to withstand and continue to operate under crisis and shock situations. What is the purpose This readiness self-assessment tool was designed for use by municipal governments as part of IFC’s advisory support to clients. It leverages knowledge and experience of IFC’s From Disclosure to Development (D2D) program which of this tool? aims to improve effectiveness of data and information use for the benefit of communities. The tool complements the implementation of guidelines by national regulators and international organizations, such as the World Health Organization (WHO). This tool identifies 5 areas for deeper consideration by municipal authorities and leaders as they design and execute crisis communication and community engagement response plans. It offers suggestions and resources to cities on best practices for understanding target audiences (including vulnerable communities), effective messaging, preferred communication channels, effective use of data, and tackling misinformation. Who should This tool is intended for municipal authorities, advisors, and civil society partners responsible for the COVID-19 response. Ideally, the team implementing this tool would collect relevant information from the distinct units involved and have an implement it? overall understanding of the municipalities’ operational systems and structures. In some instances, it may be appropriate for different areas within the municipalities to conduct the self-assessment to help establish if there are different perceptions within the municipality. www.commdev.org 1 What are (a) The suggestions set out below are subject to confirmation that they are in accordance with existing national laws and regulations, especially those related to media and communications. (b) As situations develop rapidly, careful attention its limitations? needs to be paid to any updates to guidelines issued by WHO and national health authorities. (c) The tool must be adapted to the local context by its users. Why is community Timely, accurate, trustworthy, and sustained communication and engagement are essential components in any disease outbreak response. Municipal authorities are called on to provide transparent and almost real-time information engagement and to the public on mitigative and preventative actions throughout the different stages of the response. Coordinated communication a implementation of communication and community engagement strategies between national and local governments, critical pillar in a public health experts, and community leaders is paramount in delivering key messages that can help contain disease response strategy? transmission and provide life-saving information to at-risk population. Proactively communicating and promoting two-way dialogue with communities that are harder to reach (e.g. being offline or in rural areas) can ensure that the community’s voices are integrated to the response and can help prevent detrimental behaviors like hoarding, risky health practices, propagation of misinformation, and growing mistrust. It can also help prevent stigmatization of people from areas with high infection rates, or infected individuals within their communities, which can add to the physical, mental, and economic toll of the epidemic. Community engagement and communication are not only critical in the context of the direct epidemic itself but are also required on key public health risk factors that increase alongside the disease—notably gender-based violence and mental health stressors. Municipalities must be aware of how secondary risks are differentially experienced according to gender, age, income, and other determinants of vulnerability. Where to find WHO provides Operational Planning Guidelines to Support Country Preparedness and Response which lay out 8 pillars: (1) Country-level coordination, planning, and monitoring; (2) Risk communication and community engagement; international guidelines (3) Surveillance, rapid response teams, and case investigation; (4) Points of entry; (5) National laboratories; (6) Infection for planning COVID-19 prevention and control; (7) Case management; (8) Operational support and logistics. WHO offers an online course on preparedness and risk communication. Technical guidance on each pillar is also available. This self-assessment tool builds on the guidance response? provided for pillar 2: Risk communication and community engagement to specifically assist municipal-level clients in their COVID-19 containment response. What are the key Increasingly, the most pressing challenge is the speed at which information (and misinformation) travels and the amount of information consumed by the population. Municipal authorities must be extremely vigilant about coordinating challenges cities are the information they share and how it is received by citizens, as communities around the world become increasingly facing in community concerned about the impacts of the outbreak. Lessons from previous epidemics, such as Ebola, highlight that failing to engagement and fully engage both men and women, as well as specific at-risk population groups, is a missed opportunity in terms of communications? accessing and sharing information. Furthermore, the public health crisis can strain existing processes and systems that lack flexibility and adaptiveness needed for risk and crisis communication. This can be detrimental to a city’s ability to deliver the right message at the right time, through the right and official channels. This also diminishes a city’s ability to dispel rumors and mitigate the adverse impacts of misinformation. 2 MAYOR’S TOOLKIT to Help Build Trust with Communities During COVID-19 and Beyond This tool offers a framework for municipal clients to conduct a quick self-assessment (Yes/No) of five essential components pertinent to effective risk communication and community engagement response plans. Resources point to additional information and examples of international best practices. KEY CONSIDERATIONS YES NO RESOURCES AND EXAMPLES Understanding Municipal authorities have identified at-risk populations, including • WHO COVID-19 RCCE Guidance - Annex 1A and Engaging marginalized groups and those in hard-to-reach areas (elderly, refugees • UN Statement Persons With Disabilities and migrants, homeless, people with disabilities, pregnant women, At-Risk children, rural populations, illiterate, and ethnic minorities.). • WHO, IFRC, OCHA COVID-19: How to include marginalized and vulnerable people in risk communication and community Populations engagement • CDC Guideline for homeless service providers • IASC Gender Alert for COVID-19 Outbreak • UN Women Women and COVID-19: Five things governments can do now Municipal authorities have assessed target populations’ level of literacy, accessible and trusted communication channels, and cultural/beliefs nuances. Municipal authorities have determined the target populations’ • UNFPA COVID 19: A Gender Lens. Protecting sexual and perceptions of COVID-19 risk: what people know, how they feel, and reproductive Health Rights, and Promoting Gender Equality what they do in response to the outbreak. • GBV Guidelines COVID-19 Resources • The Lancet Ebola Response and Community Engagement City has established an interactive consultation framework between the community, local leaders, and other response actors Effective Leadership is actively involved in delivering messages that are clear, regular, • PAHO COVID-19 Guidelines for communicating about and actionable. Messaging prioritizes building trust, demystifying health coronavirus disease 2019 Messaging • New York Times A German Exception? and safety information, and how to seek government assistance. Messages are honest and empathetic. Information and data are transparent. • New Zealand Unite against COVID-19 • Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative Authorities honestly communicate what is known, what is unknown, • World Bank Korea’s response to COVID-19 and what is being done to get more information, with the objectives of • President Obama to mayors: “Speak the truth. Speak it saving lives and minimizing adverse consequences. clearly. Speak it with compassion.” Messaging is constantly updated in line with the evolving dynamic of the • Real-time Dashboards City of Boston and Austin outbreak. Real-time information is made easily available. • New Zealand Data on COVID-19 - Ministry of Health 3 KEY CONSIDERATIONS YES NO RESOURCES AND EXAMPLES City makes use of public messages and infographics by the WHO. • WHO COVID-19 Infographics Information is presented in simple, visual ways that minimize speculation and avoid over-interpretation of data. Municipal authorities tailor interventions and information to local • The Refugee Response basic facts and safety information context and ensure all engagement is culturally appropriate (language, about COVID 19 in Burmese, Karen, Nepali, Kinyarwanda, norms, beliefs, age) and empathetic to help the uptake of messaging in Arabic, Swahili order to change behaviors. Messages are tailored by population group when relevant (e.g. women, elderly, youth). City follows best risk and crisis communication practices from WHO (e.g. • WHO Country and Technical Guidance A/B testing as a message testing strategy, preventing stigma). • WHO Social Stigma Associated with COVID-19 City has adapted existing coordination and clearance mechanisms to • Asian Scientist Magazine How Singapore Is Taking On ensure messages are aligned with national public health guidelines and COVID-19 directives. Effective Municipal authorities have identified, engaged and partnered Channels for with trusted networks to disseminate information (community- led organizations, religious leaders, women’s networks, business Outreach associations, youth groups, among others). Communication officials have mapped out intermediaries of information • Message from the Pope (infomediaries) and key influencers (such as religious and civil society • The Guardian The UK’s leading game makers are inserting leaders, celebrities) to ensure effectiveness of risk communication and public health messages into popular titles community engagement efforts. Levels of ICT penetration among at-risk populations have been assessed. City has established partnerships with technology companies to For example: leverage their support for COVID-19 response • free SMS messages by local mobile operators • search engine prioritizing search results with information from national/local health authorities Municipal authorities have identified the most trusted channels to • IFRC How to Use Social Media to Better Engage People deliver information. An appropriate combination of offline and online Affected by Crises channels is being utilized (Offline: SMS, radio, TV, newspapers, flyers, • CivicReady 8 Best Practices for Emergency Communications religious and community leaders. Online: COVID-19 website, messaging on Social Media services such as WhatsApp, video services such as YouTube and TikTok, • Politico Finland Taps Social Media Influencers social media, mobile apps, newsletters). • WHO WHO Alert on Whatsapp • TikTok Tiktok Response on COVID-19 • Massachusetts state government COVID-19 Text Message Notification System 4 KEY CONSIDERATIONS YES NO RESOURCES AND EXAMPLES Channels for two-way communication— such as hotlines and • New York City COVID-19 website websites—with citizens have been established. City leaders should use • Coronavirus in US Cities: Residents’ Key Concerns interactive formats when feasible and regularly monitor feedback. • Forbes Data Algorithms Are Being Used Municipal authorities and leaders have explored creative ways to • Liberia President Weah sends message of solidarity in package key messages (e.g. art, music, humor, theater) coronavirus tune • Ugandan musicians Bobi Wine & Nubian Li • Vietnam, Ministry of Health COVID-19 Song Using Data Municipal authorities collect relevant data on a daily basis. Key datasets • Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Resource Center for public communications include but are not limited to: number of Global real-time data Effectively • Canadian Government COVID-19 tests performed; number of confirmed cases; number of deaths; number of people recovered; patient information: age, gender, underlying health issues; number of hospitalizations; ICU beds used and available; levels of critical equipment, protective gear, medications, medical staff. City has established partnerships with entities that are collecting data • E.g., location data from mobile operators that cities can’t or have resources to deploy applications that serve • Mobility data from Google cities’ goals. • Economic activity data from credit card or mobile payment providers (M-Pesa, MasterCard) City has a virtual control center with a capacity to integrate and analyze the data to inform decision making and provide evidence-based messaging. In smart cities, command and control centers can be used to provide COVID-19 response. Municipal authorities publish key data for public use on a daily basis in • Open Data Institute Data and Public Services Toolkit open formats, ideally via APIs. Published patient case data is anonymized • Basics of API to prevent from individuals being personally identified. • New York Times How much should the public know about who has the coronavirus? Municipal authorities have established regulations and policies that • Germany Guidance on Employee Data Protection and safeguard privacy of health and safety information. COVID-19 patients’ COVID-19 Issues data is fully protected, in accordance with national regulations and • EU European Data Protection in Times of Pandemic international best practices. Data is visualized and contextualized to present risk and crisis response • How design can stop the spread of the coronavirus to populations in a clear, actionable way. • Visualizations of COVID data and research • Top 35 R resources on Novel COVID-19 Coronavirus • UK Government Public Health England Municipal authorities support the use of open data by citizens, • World Bank Raw data and relevant open data sets academia, and businesses to spark innovation and catalyze collaborative • Colombia National Government CoronaApp Colombia co-creation of public-private solutions (e.g. mobile applications to help • IADB Conector Digital people locate pharmacies with masks in store). • IHME Hospital Resource Use Projections 5 KEY CONSIDERATIONS YES NO RESOURCES AND EXAMPLES Misinformation Municipal authorities and leaders have coordinated communication • New York Times WHO Fights a Pandemic Besides and community engagement plans that can help prevent an ‘infodemic’ Coronavirus: An ‘Infodemic’ (excessive amounts of information, making it difficult for communities to identify key and real messages through the noise). Municipal authorities and leaders are aware of what audiences are • BBC Coronavirus: How bad information goes viral worried about, do not understand, or require more information about • Pennsylvania Real-Time news Coronavirus myths debunked and make a deliberate effort to address these gaps. Municipal authorities and leaders have established mechanisms to • WHO WHO: Myth Busters fact-check, track rumors, conspiracy theories, misinformation, and • Digiphile Help contain the viral “infodemic” with good disinformation that are circulating to assess what has to be addressed, information hygiene corrected, and/or reported to pertinent authorities. Municipal authorities and leaders provide feedback mechanisms for • IFCN Fact Checking Organizations on Whatsapp citizen participation to dispel rumors, answer questions, and disseminate correct information. List key action Action Item Responsible Department/Individual items as a result of this assessment Do you want YES NO to request IFC For additional resources and a list of Sustainable Infrastructure Advisory Services click here. assistance? For additional support with addressing identified areas of weakness, IFC clients can request assistance to: CITIES REGIONAL LEADS: SUSTAINABLE INFRASTRUCTURE ADVISORY: Africa Daniel Shepherd Global Alla Morrison ECA Patrick Avato Global Michelle Jacome LAC Kristtian Rada LAC Fernando Ruiz Mier Asia Aurelie Chardon LAC Amanda Diaz 6 List of Sustainable Infrastructure Advisory Services: For additional support with addressing identified areas of weakness, IFC clients Services to support cities to optimize their communication practices, data can request assistance to: management and improve trust in government: • Mapping of target audiences and networks of infomediaries and assessment of Cities Regional Leads: their information needs Africa Daniel Shepherd ECA Patrick Avato • Collection of specific information (i.e. impact of COVID-19 on different LAC Kristtian Rada community groups) using existing and new data sources/partnerships Asia Aurelie Chardon • Messaging using targeted online and offline communication channels (i.e. prevention, treatment, services, recovery, policies, etc.) Sustainable Infrastructure Advisory: Global Alla Morrison • Strategies to address dangerous misinformation Global Michelle Jacome • Advice on data management systems (such as a virtual control room for LAC Fernando Ruiz Mier COVID-19 response) LAC Amanda Diaz For additional resources please refer to the COVID-19 COMMUNITY IMPACT HUB Communities in developing countries are particularly vulnerable to the spread of COVID-19. The collection of curated materials found here aims to guide the private sector, governments, and civil society in advancing their understanding of potential community impacts, prevention, and recovery measures. commdev.org/covid19