Collective approaches to communication and community engagement

Recent experiences in Haiti, the Philippines, Nepal, Iraq and the Ebola crisis in West Africa have contributed to a growing moment to establish a more systematic and collective approach to communication and community engagement. Such an approach could strengthen the quality, accountability and effectiveness of humanitarian and emergency responses.

This project examines past and current experiences of collective approaches and services for communication and community engagement in emergency responses. It will identify lessons to inform future practices and improve communications and community engagement during emergencies. Specifically, the project aims to:

• Identify concrete options for addressing current bottlenecks around coordination, leadership and funding of collective approaches.
• Develop qualitative evidence of both the added value and the limitations of collective approaches.
• Highlight future implications for collective community engagement and accountability approaches, given the rapidly changing nature of the humanitarian environment.