Supporting Communication With Communities activities in Malakal, Rubkona and Juba The project aims to ensure that the CCCM Cluster, its partners and community stakeholders have a clear workable Community Communications and Engagement strategy along with dedicated resources (human and technical) to connect with people who have been displaced in Juba PoC, Malakal and in Rubkona Town. This work will be fully rounded two-way process that will possess the cultural skills and sensitivity required to respond and learn from community information needs, which is critical for effective communications. Without this cultural sensitivity humanitarian organizations often by default to end up using management / NGO message ‘speak’ such as referring to people by their English language groupings such as “IDPs” or homogenizing them rather than developing communications for individuals. There is also a tendency to use top down communications that undermines or underestimates the enormous power of communities who are engaged, mobilized and are partners in persuading people to change behaviors. This project will work towards ensuring that partners develop more strategic and coordinated communications with the communities they work with and an accountable response to the affected population, with a particular focus on ensuring the needs of marginalized groups are met.

In addition, Internews will bring together representatives of the community and NGOs to work with on content/story ideas related to issues such as the lack of trust within and between communities, gender empowerment, and, more broadly, participation in decision-making. This locally-driven, participatory approach to content production will ensure both diversity and consistency in voices and perspectives in local radio news and feature story broadcasts. 

The main approach to achieve this aim is to build upon Internews existing activities in these three locations, principally these are:
i. Feedback and listening groups to gather information from the ground
ii. Written bulletins and reports to disseminate the information amongst humanitarian partners’ 
iii. The operation of an FM radio station, Kondial FM in Bentiu, Nile FM in Malakal and the BBTT project in Juba to maintain information flows to and from residents in Malakal and the Juba PoC’s as well as the collective sites in Rubkona. 
iv. Close liaison with camp leadership structures and the humanitarian community to ensure useful information flows between all parties.

The use of radio in this project is critical with South Sudan having a current literacy rate of 27% (UNESCO 2018), most communication is verbal and so radio is ideally suited as a medium to serve the needs of the people in South Sudan. In addition, with the speed that rumors and misinformation can spread in a camp it is vital for accurate and critical information to be available immediately to everyone. The radio is ideally suited for this as it can broadcast across the camp and beyond instantly and it is also the most trusted form of communication, even more than word of mouth. In the Internews national audiences survey in South Sudan 70% of those surveyed preferred to get accurate information from the radio. Listening is also a social activity with the same survey showing that two thirds of listeners preferred to listen with friends and family, allowing information to be shared further and discussed amongst the population in Bentiu, Malakal, Juba and beyond.