Below is a list of risk communication activities AFENET has been actively participating in at the risk communication pillar of the National EOC for COVID-19 Response:

Weekly RC Planning and Reviews Meetings:

Since the formation of the Risk Communication Pillar, Afenet staff have been participating in the weekly risk communication pillar planning and review meetings which happens Tuesdays and Thursdays of every week and have been going on since March till date of 2020. Additional risk communication pillar sub-committee meetings include: messaging team, capacity development facilitation team, National Working Group, COVID-19NG Videograper for Documentation group, COVID-19 Social Media Influencers group.

Drafting of the National Risk Communication and Community Engagement Document

AFENET participated very actively in this process in drafting the strategies, processes, monitoring and evaluation design of the plan. Development was in different phases and inputs and correction were done via google doc.

Development of guidelines for various sector: Afenet staff participated in writing, editing and finalization of various guidelines for various sectors

• • Development of various guidelines for various sectors including:
  • Communication guidelines for religious gatherings
  • Communication guidelines for Governors
  • Risk communication guidelines to states
  • Communication guidelines for NYSC camp reopening
  • Communication guidelines for safe school reopening
  • Communication guidelines for wearing of mask
  • Communication guidelines for public holiday celebrations including Christian and Muslim events
  • Guidelines for COVID-19 message development etc

Risk Communication Capacity Development: AFENET staff participated in the planning and facilitation the various TOT trainings, including

• • TOT at the national and sub-national levels for:
  • Security agencies
  • Tradition and religious leaders
  • Health promotion and health education officers
  • NYSC
  • Ministry of education and education stakeholders
  • Media orientation COVID-19 reporting training for the media in the six regions
  • Development of training contents including: effective communications, disrupting stigma, handling stigmatization, role of stakeholders etc
  • Use of ODK and COVID-19 monitoring and evaluation etc

Development of M&E plan for the risk communication pillar:

AFENET staff was involved in developing the M&E plan for the risk communication pillar which has been adopted and used across the states in Nigeria

Development of public awareness and behavior change messages for radio, tv and online:

AFENET staff was involved in key COVID-19 message development. These include writing and editing as well as review. Several key messages were developed and produced according to the various phases of the pandemic response. The messages were equally adapted into various Nigeria languages and disseminated via the media.

Development of IEC materials:

AFENET Staff was involved the development key IEC materials which where later produced and distributed to the states and other key sectors

Improvement of the rumour log at NCDC:

regular analysis of the rumour log at the NCDC also led to the improvement of the log through critical inputs from the team.

Development of mobile curriculum on COVID-19:

AFENET staff was part of the team that developed the mobile COVID-19 curriculum which was used for COVID-19 information dissemination

Development of the Communication for Education (C4E):

AFENET developed the Communication for Education (C4E) concept, which is a new concept of communication as an additional layer of risk communication and a mitigant against infodemics. C4E aims curb the proliferation and effects of misinformation, rumours and fake news. The concept was developed by AFENET staff presented to the risk communication pillar and consequently adopted.

Documentation:

AFENET staff was drafted to be part of the videographic documentation of the COVID-19 response which include interviewing keystakeholders, recovered patients and some members of the public. AFENET staff was involved with the planning of the shootings, script development and production.

Development of safe school reopening guidelines and communication strategy with FMoE:

AFENET staff was part of the development for the development of guidelines for safe school reopening, in partnership with the FMoE, UNICEF, EIE etc. AFENET actually led the development of the safe school reopening communication strategic plan and participated in stakeholder engagement at the national and regional level.