On March 8th, we launched a collaboration with Radio Africa Group to air Public Service Announcements (PSAs) and interactive radio shows to provide immediate high-quality public health content, establish a trusted communications space and garner rapid social insights for future content. we have been drawing on the expertise of Dr Moses Masika, a Virologist at...
Containing and stopping the new coronavirus pandemic requires equitable access to trusted, reliable information. Nonetheless, rapidly informing and empowering communities to stay healthy and safe as we combat the outbreak is only one part of the story. Any effective public health response will require an elaborate understanding of people’s perceptions around risk and preparedness to...
The Board of Trustees and leadership of Africa’s Voices are deeply saddened by the passing of Dr Peter da Costa. Peter joined our Board only recently, but he was a longstanding friend and advisor of Africa’s Voices from its very beginnings in 2015. He was a real believer in our mission and in our ability...
Africa’s Voices helps government decision-makers, development agencies, service-providers and humanitarians design programmes that are grounded in people’s everyday realities. We do this by combining interactive media, mobile technology, and cutting-edge data and social science to listen intelligently to citizen feedback. Since Africa’s Voices earliest days as a pilot research project at the University of Cambridge, we have...
A real highlight this week was a talk by Luke Church and Sharath Srinivasan of Africa’s Voices Foundation. It is a rare delight to see a genuinely interdisciplinary presentation, combining computer science and social science perspectives – and to have speakers recognise that the audience likely understood terms such as ‘integrity’ very differently. Both speakers brought...
In response to the humanitarian emergency in Somalia in 2017, AVF developed an innovative system and workflow for targeted behaviour change messaging. Through this process AVF categorised SMS messages sent in to interactive radio programmes reporting barriers to adopting life-saving behaviours, such as water treatment and exclusive breastfeeding. Then, AVF delivered tailored responses to affected...
In late May, the Communication with Disaster Affected Communities Network held its annual global forum in Nairobi. More than 160 participants from over 20 countries came together to discuss the challenges facing aid professionals in the context of the digital era and advent of new technologies. Specifically, the discussion centred around digital exclusion as an...
This is a guest post by Isatou Batanon, Social Policy Specialist, UNICEF Somalia. It first appeared on UNDG Silo Fighters. Somalia is slowly emerging from decades of conflict, recurrent drought and mass population movements, and is currently on a trajectory towards greater peace and stability. A federal structure has been in place since 2012, with the...
The extended drought in Somalia continues to have a devastating impact across the country. Since early 2017, when the crisis deteriorated and the threat of famine loomed, the number of people in emergency level of food insecurity (IPC Phase 4) has increased to 866,000. Over the same period, over 1,159 people lost their lives in...
I have been preoccupied with the phrase “valuing voices” ever since the earliest days of Africa’s Voices as a pilot research project at the University of Cambridge. It has all sorts of meanings and motivations: a call to arms, an ethical commitment, a cautionary counsel, a methodological challenge amidst data revolutions, a test for people...
