Research Snapshot: IDPs radio and COVID-related misinformation in Burkina Faso – University of Sheffield

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