Avian Influenza Partnership
The Nicaragua office of the humanitarian organisation CARE is responding to the multi-continental spread of avian influenza (AI) by working with the government and other partners in an effort to foster an environment conducive to the development of a single national AI communication-centred plan to prevent bird flu within the country. In taking steps to facilitate this type of coordinated national response, CARE Nicaragua aims to ensure that CARE staff, CARE partners, and community members - both those involved in CARE interventions and all Nicaraguans - have access to information, health services, and knowledge of economic mitigation measures related to the possibility of a potential pandemic avian flu outbreak.
Communication Strategies
The core strategy underpinning this initiative is partnership-building. Specifically, CARE Nicaragua initiated and strengthened relationships with the government and other key local partners as part of a quest to set the stage for dialogue about mounting an effective national prevention and response campaign.
CARE Nicaragua began by sending informational emails to partners to outline the economic and health implications of the disease and to articulate how CARE could assist in this area by sparking a cooperative national effort. These online communications in turn spurred various types of collaborations; for instance, CARE Nicaragu approached NicaSalud, a network of 28 organisations working in various areas of health. During the first meeting, organisers shared CARE's 5-step community-based approach to AI. (To access information about this approach, and other AI resources, visit CARE's Avian Influenza website.) CARE Nicaragua then facilitated the formation of several working groups dedicated to national pandemic preparedness and response, supported in various ways by local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
CARE Nicaragua went on to capitalise on the connections built through this process, drawing again on (mostly) face-to-face exchanges to help initiate - and increase knowledge about - a national AI communication plan. For example, having discovered during the partnering/engagement process that USAID had an AI agency plan, CARE Nicaragua hosted meetings with USAID, NicaSalud, representatives of the Ministries of Health (MoH) and Agriculture, various NGOs, and the media. These meetings helped clarify the path forward: a behaviour change communication (BCC)-based plan for mapping AI messages, drawing on the MoH's official strategy. (To learn more about this strategy, scroll to the final page of this PDF document.) Various capacity building workshops, funded by USAID, were then held to set out a specific way forward; for example, one workshop engaged members of the media in discussions about how to communicate responsibly about AI.
CARE Nicaragua began by sending informational emails to partners to outline the economic and health implications of the disease and to articulate how CARE could assist in this area by sparking a cooperative national effort. These online communications in turn spurred various types of collaborations; for instance, CARE Nicaragu approached NicaSalud, a network of 28 organisations working in various areas of health. During the first meeting, organisers shared CARE's 5-step community-based approach to AI. (To access information about this approach, and other AI resources, visit CARE's Avian Influenza website.) CARE Nicaragua then facilitated the formation of several working groups dedicated to national pandemic preparedness and response, supported in various ways by local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
CARE Nicaragua went on to capitalise on the connections built through this process, drawing again on (mostly) face-to-face exchanges to help initiate - and increase knowledge about - a national AI communication plan. For example, having discovered during the partnering/engagement process that USAID had an AI agency plan, CARE Nicaragua hosted meetings with USAID, NicaSalud, representatives of the Ministries of Health (MoH) and Agriculture, various NGOs, and the media. These meetings helped clarify the path forward: a behaviour change communication (BCC)-based plan for mapping AI messages, drawing on the MoH's official strategy. (To learn more about this strategy, scroll to the final page of this PDF document.) Various capacity building workshops, funded by USAID, were then held to set out a specific way forward; for example, one workshop engaged members of the media in discussions about how to communicate responsibly about AI.
Development Issues
Health.
Sources
Email from Harriet Andrews to The Communication Initiative on March 19 2007; and "Working with the Government and Partners in Nicaragua" [PDF], by Harold Rugama, CARE Nicaragua.
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