By: Emily Mikwa
The stakeholders within the Kisumu Crisis Communication Chapter have unanimously resolved that enhancing community resilience through dialogue is the best way to deal with any crisis in the region.
Coming from a background marred with a lot of dis-harmonies, loss of lives and destructions during post elections and demonstrations, the Crisis Communication Chapter stakeholders noted that having community dialogue within the available spaces will help the people vent and chart their way forward together in times of crisis.
These were resolutions made during a review meeting convened at Pinecone Hotel today, as the three months pilot project initiated by KCA to promote community dialogue, phase one came to a close.
The Crisis Communication Chapter in Kisumu is a multi-stakeholder approach bringing on board Kenya Correspondence Association (KCA), the County Department of Communication, Civil Society Organizations, elders, religious institutions, and youths.
For the last three months since the launch of the project in September 2022, KCA has implemented the Crisis Communication Chapter in Kisumu and Kibera to give the community rapid communication tools that deal with emerging crises.
The stakeholders have been capacity built equipping them with skills in organizing structured dialogues, passing factual information to the audience, fact checking to avoid disinformation which may cause agitation amongst the people.
The project in its pilot state has made strides in utilizing the existing spaces such as the five local bunges in advancing the community agenda on matters crisis management.
The stakeholders have also been involved in promoting community dialogues through local radio stations, meetings, attending bunge sessions and through social media platforms.
They have since vowed to tell their own stories using the available communication spaces to deter those spreading stereotyped, propagated lies about Kisumu especially in times of crisis such as the demonstrations that are currently being experienced in the whole country.
Since the inception of the timely project, minimal destructions have been realized during the demos. Going forward, the Kisumu Crisis Communication Chapter has a duty to bring people to dialogue whenever any crisis arises despite the limitation of resources.
