Research Snapshot: IDPs radio and COVID-related misinformation in Burkina Faso

This study looked at the use of radio as a public health messaging tool for vulnerable crisis-affected communities during the COVID-19 pandemic, producing findings that were used by partner radio stations to adapt public health-related programming for IDPs in Burkina Faso.This study, undertaken during the COVID-19 outbreak in Burkina Faso, found that radio enabled sharing of rapid, relevant, and reliable information, even during COVID-19 and a deteriorating security situation.Radio can be considered and deployed in emergency context as an urgent response tool. Humanitarian actors can use radio to disseminate rapid, relevant, and reliable information to conflict-affected communities and counter disinformation.Involving affected communities in the production and dissemination of information, through interactive broadcasts and as sources of information, helps improve its effectiveness as a public health messaging tool.This snapshot contains key messages, findings, implications for humanitarian policymakers and practitioners and recommendations for further research.Photo: Outside broadcast of «Let’s talk Coronavirus» recorded by Studio Yafa at an IDP camp in Kaya, Burkina Faso, 18/12/20. © Olympia de Maismont / Fondation Hirondelle