Malawi RCCE Radio Show & Messaging During the Pandemic in Ethiopia

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This event was a session at the Food Security COVID-19 Learning Event.

During the pandemic, access to reliable, culturally appropriate information about COVID-19 was extremely important to enable households to make informed decisions. Join this session for insights into approaches used in Malawi and Ethiopia to reach vulnerable populations. In Malawi, a consortium of civil society organizations mobilized to address citizen fears about the COVID-19 vaccine. They created a radio program that collected people’s questions and concerns, engaged health officials to address concerns, and initiated a community feedback loop to answer emerging questions through WhatsApp. In Ethiopia, where many safety net clients didn’t have access to COVID messages coming through the internet and radio, CRS rolled out an Interactive Voice Recognition (IVR)-based feedback and response mechanism (FRM). 

Speakers

Arthur Nkosi, Corps Africa

Arthur Nkosi serves as the Country Director of CorpsAfrica/Malawi. He worked within the service industry for Fortune 500 companies in the United States and has over twelve years of banking experience in micro-finance. As the Chief Human Resources Officer at Opportunity International Bank of Malawi, where he managed a workforce of more than 600 employees, his focus was on staff development and organizational behavior. Since that position, Arthur has worked as the Client Portfolio Director with Non-Government Organizations and Government entities in Malawi to build sustainable communities through financial services. Arthur is also the Chairperson of the Malawi Chapter for the Movement for Community Led Development.

Gregory Makabila, Catholic Relief Services

Gregory has over 14 years’ experience in designing and implementing monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and learning systems across Africa. Greg has worked for Catholic Relief Services since 2012 where he has served in various roles at projects, country programs, and in the East Africa region. Currently he is MEAL Deputy Chief of Party for Ethiopia’s BHA-funded Resilience Food Security Activity (RFSA) and has led the design and execution of a learning-centered MEAL system that proved invaluable during the COVID-19 pandemic. Greg holds a PhD in business administration from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology.