Liberia declared a state of emergency in early April when the pandemic hit. In a race against time, Sharon Logan with a group of fellow returnees took
the initiative to create comic strips to get essential preventative
information about the virus to communities with limited access to
mainstream communication channels.
Sharon is part of a network of migrant returnees trained to
provide accurate and clear information to people at risk of unsafe
migration and exploitation and abuse by human traffickers and smugglers
in West Africa.
The network was formed under the Migrants as Messengers (MaM) programme led by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to support
returnees in the region to lead migration awareness-raising initiatives.
Returnees are often all too
familiar with a deficit of information when it comes to making
life-changing decisions. As a network of volunteers, they now share
their experiences about migration to support people to make informed
choices.
When the pandemic reached West
Africa, MaM volunteers, numbering more than 250 returnees spanning seven countries in West Africa, joined efforts to tackle the virus and
provide preventative information to protect communities.
In Liberia, MaM volunteers
identified a gap in visual health information for communities facing
language, technology and literacy barriers. The comic strips contain
familiar visual cues so people can understand the pictures and follow
advice. Images show how people can practice physical distancing and take adequate hygiene and sanitation measures to prevent transmission of the virus.
“We concluded that comic strips
could be very useful to distribute in the communities. They could be
printed as stickers, flyers and placed or distributed in strategic
places: market areas and checkpoints. The comic strips have received a
great response from the general public. We tried to make the comic
wording and images very simple and the messages very specific,” said
Sharon.
Speaking to people about their
information needs and preferences, the volunteer team identified that
certain health information provided by national and international actors was not followed. Further consultations determined people favoured
visual information and needed health advice communicated in pictures, as well as words.
“Prevention messages are not
always followed by people taking action. Some understand the wording and visual imagery while others will only understand the visual imagery.
Comic strips help communicate these important messages to the general
public,” Sharon explained.
Fatigue and suspicion towards
public messaging and campaigns in the COVID-19 response and other
scenarios can be a barrier, the team says, and has prompted them to get
more creative. They are championing new and different approaches to
engage people, recognising “awareness-raising is an art” and ultimately
needs to reflect the realities of the people it intends to support.
MaM volunteers in Liberia
describe their experience of contributing to the COVID-19 communication
response as “lifting their spirits” at a time of great strain and
anxiety. “Together we can win over this pandemic,’’ said Princess
Gbatue.
The Migrants as Messengers programme is supporting a range of creative communication activities to unique
challenges created by the pandemic in Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone.