Misinformation harms the most vulnerable

Information on the street

Working in collaboration with Stop the Child Witchcraft Accusations (SCWA) partners, we have been analysing community feedback from trusted contacts in 12 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Three key themes emerged:

• Misinformation about the causes of Covid-19 leads to confusion and failure to take action.

• Covid-19 restrictions have caused severe socio-economic harm to local communities’ and households’ that were already facing disadvantage.

• Fear created by the above uncertainty and insecurity is linked to increased witchcraft accusations and abuse of vulnerable children.

These themes highlight the need for communities to be able to accurately explain why life has got tougher since Covid-19, building on local conversations around reliable information.

Misinformation and confusion

Our contacts told us that there is a lot of speculation about Coronavirus in their countries and communities. Reasons given for the spread of the pandemic include Coronavirus being: ‘a punishment from God’, ‘a ruse from the devil’, ‘an outworking of biological warfare between Chinese and American superpowers’, ‘the result of 5G technology’ or ‘a highly infectious illness’. Some believe that Coronavirus doesn’t exist at all or that African people are safe from it because it cannot survive warmer climates. Blame is most frequently attributed to either the Chinese, the West or the wealthy with their international travel. Government authorities rely on media to communicate health messages to their populations. However, our partners reported that a lot of additional information is being shared on social media and that this information is frequently unreliable. This confusion causes fear and discourages people from taking action to protect themselves and their communities.

Socio-economic harm

Consistently we heard that the impact of lockdown restrictions is far more severe than the impact of the virus itself. As people have lost their livelihoods, many are starving. Food insecurity is mentioned again and again. The pandemic has done long term damage to economies and livelihoods in Sub-Saharan countries and this is putting families under significant extra pressure. We heard from Mrs G in Kananga, DR Congo:

 “My husband, who lost his job, abandoned me and our three children. I don’t know where he is. I am trying to get by now by selling leaves to meet the needs of my children. I feed the same kind of cassava leaves that I sell on their own [i.e. that is all she feeds them] to feed my children once a day. The huge anxiety that plays on my mind is that one of my children is already suffering from malnutrition. I don’t know what to do or when coronavirus is going to end.”

 Witchcraft Accusations

A rise in witchcraft accusations is noted in Nigeria, Kenya and DR Congo, and this increase often happens at times of crisis. Families are under pressure and they want explanations for their changing circumstances. Children with behavioural or physical differences to local norms become scapegoats, accused of witchcraft or of bringing a curse on their homes. They are often abandoned to live on the streets in major cities like Kinshasa. Food insecurity is particularly severe for vulnerable groups such as children living on the streets. The COVID-19 impact is compounded by lack of access to clean water and to facemasks to protect them from the virus.

Beyond confusion and fear

Many of these injustices could be avoided through local communities being equipped to develop and disseminate more accurate explanations for misfortune, and through feeling empowered to develop their own responses to the hardships.

Our partners’ feedback identifies churches and radio as highly trusted sources of information, which suggests that these are good routes to starting community conversations based on accurate information. Social dialogues are essential for identifying common local concerns, for building healthy understanding of them and for developing sustainable local responses to COVID-19 and lockdown restrictions.

“You have given us courage to speak”

 “You have given us courage to speak and express our views in front of men!”

One female participant’s words express the exciting outcome of a recent HCR Pakistan workshop on creating community-centred radio. Five women and nine men took part in the workshop in a rural village in Pakistan.

At the start of the workshop, the participants said they wanted to raise their voices on behalf of the poor. One woman said she wanted to be a champion for those who are marginalised.

Participant and facilitator at community-centred media workshop, Pakistan, Jan 2019. (HCR Pakistan)

A health worker in the community is already using radio to include marginalised voices in community conversations. He goes around the village speaking to a variety of people, recording their opinions on health and development topics. He and the HCR Pakistan director, Mr Hazeen Latif are eager for the radio to be even more inclusive by building a team of volunteers within the community to help design and produce the programmes too.

The group learned the basic principles of community centred radio, how to make Public Service Announcements (PSAs) and how to interview people for radio. The quality of the practical work was very high, one team’s work reaching what we call ABS – Above Broadcast Standard.

Male participants prepare a PSA incommunity centred media workshop, Pakistan, Jan 2019. (HCR Pakistan)

Yet a big challenge in this traditionally male-dominated culture was how to have men and women participating in the workshop together. Sitting in the same room for a public event is not the norm.

As the practical exercises began, the women’s voices were too quiet to be heard. The women realised that if they wanted to be inclusive activists, they had to overcome their fears of speaking out. As the course continued, they found more confidence. They said later that they began to see the facilitator as a friendly, fatherly figure, making the workshop a safe environment for speaking. The men were impressed at how passionately the women would argue their points publicly.

Confidence grew within the workshop, but the trust that led to this has been growing over several years. Mr Latif and the community health worker have collaborated on the Naway Saher project for about four years, facilitating a variety of community development activities. They have patiently built trust with each other and with the community.

Trust has been essential in arriving at the point where the workshop was possible. Trust was also essential for the workshop to become truly inclusive. Trust gives hope that the new team will be successful in their goal to be champions for the poor and marginalised.

Mr Hazeen Latif and Naway Saher project coordinator, Pakistan, Jan 2019 (HCR Pakistan)

First Radio Gig for Martu Kids in Newman

By Rachel Buch

Visiting the YMCA Early Learning Centre was definitely a highlight of our recent visit to Newman. As soon as we walked in the door an energetic group of Martu kids were absolutely bouncing off the walls to greet us.  

At our first mention of radio the kids quickly told us they did not listen to Newman’s community radio station because it was “boring”, but their interest peaked when we asked them if it would be more interesting if they were on the radio. They began telling us their ideas and, without us even asking, some of the problems they identified in their community. Kids as young as 8 years old told us they were worried about the older kids in their community, with many having problems with alcohol, drugs and smoking.

We placed a flipchart and some marker pens on a table. Within moments these future adults were working together, brainstorming ways to express their concerns to the rest of the community and writing down their thoughts. When we invited each person to read out their own idea, some didn’t want to be recorded. But with coaching from us and encouragement from their carer, Jackie, by the end of the session almost every child had contributed to the recordings.

We then went back to our accommodation and quickly edited the individual statements into several radio segments (community service announcements), then emailed them to our partners. The next day our local partner Angela Wilmot told us that some kids who had participated in the workshop visited her house the next day and she played them the finished recordings. “You should have seen their faces!” she said. “The kids absolutely lit up when they heard themselves speak.”

Listen  to the kids telling us what they think about smoking:

Be encouraged with us! Encouraged to know that Martu youth in Newman are engaging their peers to talk about issues they see around them everyday. Encouraged to be supporting the potential these young people have to make a difference in their own community. And encouraged to know that we are supporting groups like the YMCA and John and Angela Wilmot in their work among the Martu people.

If you would like to support our work in Newman please click here.