Two new reports give insights into the emerging information needs among Rohingya people and the host community; as well as evaluating the contribution that the common service is making to community engagement and accountability in the response.
A new Information Needs Assessment, carried out by Internews in January and February 2019, finds that there is a dramatic increase in the number of refugees who say they now have enough information to make decisions about their daily lives: the percentage jumped from 23% in 2017 to 92% in the recent study. However, large numbers of refugees still report confusion over how to access several services and meet basic needs, with 40% saying they are unsure how to obtain more or better food. Similarly large percentages needed information about financial support, water supplies, aid registration, general information about events around the camps, what is happening in Myanmar / Rakhine and long-term options for their and their children’s futures.
An evaluation of the common service for community engagement and accountability, carried out by BBC Media Action in April 2019, focused on understanding the impact of the common service on the work of practitioners and organisations responding to the crisis. It found that products and services produced by the Common Service are widely used by practitioners working at different levels within the Rohingya response; are supporting practitioners to communicate with communities more effectively; and that collective feedback approaches have led agencies to adapt the design of their programmes in line with the community’s views and concerns.
Both reports are available to download here: