How do you gain the trust of a community during a pandemic? What is the benefit of telling the stories of real people who have recovered from COVID-19? Why should you never use the word ‘suspect case’ when referring to someone who may have the disease?

Image created by Mantaray Africa. Submitted for United Nations Global Call Out To Creatives (Unsplash)

Combining best practices acquired on-the-ground since March, along with established guidelines, the Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) for COVID-19 course is now available online and as a downloadable PDF. The online version of the course takes 60 minutes to complete, and a certificate of achievement is provided.

What you’ll learn:

• RCCE basic principles
• best practices
• how to set up a rumour tracking mechanism
• how to design and implement your own RCCE plan
• where to access the right resources

The course was developed by The Regional Working Group for COVID-19 RCCE in West and Central Africa and is open to all. Check out the working group’s website to download free community engagement tools.

P.S. In case you are wondering, the answers are: Establish two-way communication and work with community leaders, volunteers, and others influencers; More likelihood of someone with symptoms visiting a health facility and it helps fighting stigma; The word ‘suspect’ is criminalizing language and implies the person did something wrong.