Together We Can Win This Fight
We hope you, your families and friends, are well and managing all the new norms and practices that come with this global pandemic.
At Rain Barrel we have been processing a lot of information to get on top of what COVID-19 is and how to respond best in our daily lives, and through our work.
We are gratified to see that important global institutions, including the United Nations family, have mounted a well-prepared risk communication response that rapidly translates emerging knowledge about the novel coronavirus into effective communication on a global scale.
The more we delve into the logic and reasoning behind the focus on rigorous hand-washing and sanitation, hand-to-face transmission and social distancing, the better we understand and accept that these practices will minimize transmission by 90 per cent. Minimizing transmission is key to flattening and eventually reducing the otherwise exponentially rising curve of newly infected – giving our health workers and health systems the best possible chance to care for those who fall seriously ill.
Have you seen the viral hand washing video from UNICEF Vietnam?
All this and more is well captured in this empowering and low budget video from an ER doctor on the front line in New York City. His message, contextualized for NYC but generally universal, is clear: Learn these new norms and practices fast and the vast majority of us will be able to stay virus-free. His message is also that, by doing so, we will help him and his colleagues ensure that seriously ill and health-seeking COVID19 patients will get the treatment they need...and that most will survive.
These are important messages to embrace and to share in a time of uncertainty, fear, and misinformation. Which brings us to several related issues:
The short-and long-term impact of this pandemic is having on the mental health of people everywhere. Especially those who are already living with mental health issues, and young people who under usual circumstances are at greater risk of developing a mental health disorder.
Domestic violence centers and services all over the world are bracing themselves for the emerging tsunami of domestic and gender-based violence incidents that generally follow when people have to live under the same roof, facing economic hardship, in a time of social distancing and self-isolation.
Also, what about people who are living with disabilities and who rely on access to social services and a variety of specialized services and related support functions? They are especially at risk when such services shut down or cannot be accessed in a time of lockdowns.
This leads us to share one of our greatest concerns here and now: The hundreds of millions of people all over the world who live in crowded communities where the new norms and practices cannot easily be adapted. Where soap, hand sanitizer, clean water and access to well-equipped health services are absent or limited. Where physical distancing is close to impossible. If it is difficult for those of us who live in relative comfort to adopt new behaviors, imagine what it must be like for them?
The conundrum that follows: How do we expand social inclusion in a time of social distancing? We remain socially connected, and at the same time we must promote and practice physical distance. One solution it would seem, is to focus on using the greatest tools that connect us all - the web and social media.
With these concerns in the back of our minds, we at Rain Barrel see a need for rapidly translating what we know into communication initiatives, behavioral nudges, and provision of supplies and services that can help people everywhere to protect and help themselves and their families. To help flatten the curve before the pandemic gains a foothold and overwhelms marginalised and under-resourced communities and societies.
As a global network of communication professionals, we are upskilling ourselves fast and able to work effectively with our partners and communities anywhere to win the fight against time to flatten the curve globally. Through new opportunities, and where possible, in tandem with existing and ongoing efforts that target improvements in water, sanitation, and hygiene practices, the elimination of violence, and provision of cash transfers to vulnerable families and households.
Whether you are one of our associates or partners, we invite you to be ready to team up with us and rise to the occasion of addressing this monumental challenge, everywhere.
We also invite you to share with us credible resources and tools that you have developed, or have come across, that can be used in addressing this global pandemic.
In the meantime, we invite you to enjoy some of the best articles and resources for inspiring communication around COVID-19 that we have come across recently.
Together we can and will win this fight, and work to ensure that it leads to positive transformations beyond survival.
Stay safe, kind and healthy.
The Rain Barrel Team