4.Y.2. Building inclusive risk communication, community engagement and infodemic management strategies

Abstract

Abstract Public health crises have their most devastating effects on people who are marginalized due to structural vulnerability mechanisms. As a reflection of this phenomenon, the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic as a public health crises has increased the vulnerability of groups such as refugees, asylum-seekers and LGBTQ+ individuals facing discrimination, stigmatisation, displacement, economic instability, risk environments, precarious living and working conditions among others, and health inequities have been further deepened. A critical post-pandemic task is to develop comprehensive crisis response plans that prioritize inclusivity and address diverse needs. Integral to these plans are Risk Communication (RC), Community Engagement (CE), and Infodemic Management (IM) strategies. While international organizations have provided guidelines for RCCE-IM, there is an urgent need to translate these principles into tailored, context-specific strategies that account for the unique circumstances and requirements of diverse groups. The aim of this workshop is to reflect the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic to strengthen the RCCE-IM strategies, using the cases of migrants and LGBTQ+ people, two groups who are intensively influenced by structural vulnerability mechanisms. The first 20 minutes of this workshop will feature four short presentations. First, the concepts of RCCE-IM will be defined, followed by an explanation of why related strategies should differ for vulnerable groups. The second presentation will focus on the issues that LGBTQ+ people faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as their specific RCCE-IM needs. The third and fourth presentations are based on a collective project taking an expert perspective on the RCCE experience with migrants during the COVID-19 pandemic. Firstly, the extent to which the RCCE actions in Munich, Germany, has been able to include asylum-seekers and areas for improvement will be presented. This will be followed by a presentation on recommendations to enhance RCCE of the experts who were working with undocumented migrants, unaccompanied minors, and newly arrived refugees in Malmö, Sweden. In the final part of the workshop, participants will be invited to provide brief recommendations on the operationalization of international RCCE-IM principles across four key thematic areas: 1) Rapid adaptation of RC materials to culture and context, 2) Trust-building in crisis, 3) Navigating sociocultural and linguistic diversity, 4) Addressing LGBTQ+ migrants in RCCE activities. Key messages • Addressing vulnerable groups in (public) health and humanitarian crises using RCCE-IM strategies are needed to leave no one behind. • To conduct inclusive RCCE-IM activities, cities need to address structural vulnerabilities, identify different needs and context-based strategies, and integrate various sectors and perspectives.