Information Needs Assessments

When communities are experiencing humanitarian crises, it is important to determine what content and method of information delivery will enable people to take an active role in their own survival and recovery.

Internews has conducted humanitarian information assessments in:

Kenya (Dadaab) | Libya | Cote d'Ivoire/Liberia | Republic of Southern Sudan

Kenya

At the Dadaab refugee camps, hundreds of Somalians have fled drought, famine and a civil war. Internews conducted a joint assessment of information needs in refugee camps around Dadaab, in Eastern Kenya. With Radio Ergo/IMS, the Norwegian Refugee Council, and Star FM of Kenya, the goal was to understand the information needs of refugees and explore ways to improve the flow of communications between refugees, aid agencies, and host communities.

• Read the report: Humanitarian Communications and Information Needs Assessment Among Refugees in the Camps: Findings, Analysis & Recommendations
• Video
  • Serious Communications Gaps at Camps for Somali Refugees are Putting Lives at Risk
  • Digital Survey Captures Refugees' Information Needs
• View photos from the assessment

Libya

Beginning in March 2011, Internews has been working to understand local information needs of residents and those who have fled to neighboring countries, map available information sources, and develop recommendations to improve the flow of reliable local news and information in Libya.

• Reports
  • Libya Media Assessment, June 2011
  • Humanitarian Information Assessment at Choucha Camp on the Tunisia/Libya Border, March 2011
• Watch a video: Libya Explores Open Media
• Radio interviews with Jamal Dajani, Internews VP for the Middle East and North Africa
  • Independent Media in Libya, CBC Radio, August 2011
  • Libyan Media: Past, Present and Future, On the Media, August 2011

Cote d’Ivoire/Liberia

Internews’ assessment along Liberia’s eastern border with Cote d’Ivoire, where more than 150,000 Ivoirians have fled the violence at home, makes several recommendations for how the international aid community, along with local media organizations and telecommunications companies, can better meet the information needs of Ivoirian refugees. (More information)

• Read the report: Assessment: Local Media Landscape and Information Needs of Ivoirian Refugees in Eastern Liberia
• Watch a video: Communication Strategy Needed to Assist Ivoirian Refugees in Liberia

Republic of Southern Sudan

Fighting in the disputed Sudanese border region of Abyei beginning on May 21, 2011 sent tens of thousands of people fleeing south to Warrap State for their safety. Since March 2009, Internews has operated an FM radio station in Turalei, the administrative capital of Warrap State’s Twic County. Internews carried out an assessment to investigate the impact of Mayardit FM following the May Abyei crisis and the subsequent mass displacement of people, and make recommendations for future improvements. (More information)

• Reports
  • Communication in Crisis: Assessing the Impact of Mayardit FM Following the May 2011 Abyei Emergency
  • Mayardit FM Audience Survey