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Due to the realities of constraints in funding and capacity you may need to prioritize who your information service should target.
| NOTE – You might make/revisit this decision throughout the design process, as you consider partnerships, channels, risks, budget, etc. |
A few common crucial considerations for determining a target audience for this program model include:
Identifying who is most in need of information:
- Needs vs. capacities - Consider both humanitarian needs and existing capacities to access the information that the affected population needs. There may be one geographic area for which humanitarian needs are extremely high, but existing formal or informal communications infrastructure is already working to serve that group to provide information. In this case, you could either partner with those actors to support their ongoing efforts, or consider focusing on another geographic area. However, even where there are existing capacities, there may be groups who are left behind – for example, all information is in one dominant language, or a particular group cannot access the information point. In this case, you may partner with those existing actors to strengthen inclusivity of their ongoing efforts or consider focusing solely on meeting the needs of those left behind.
- Potential impact of information - It is important to consider the ‘empowerment potential’ that information can provide for different groups. For example, if access health services or to obtain legal documentation are the most pressing needs, but there are no health services to access and no legal rights to claim, providing information might be less impactful for that population as you are unlikely to be able to provide useful information. On the other hand, where services and rights are limited, rumors can be exacerbated and people can turn to untrustworthy sources for information on alternative options – in this example, providing information services might have strong impact.
Meeting information needs:
- Information production capacity - Verifying information requested by clients can require a significant time investment. When the information needs of your target audience are hugely varied, staff can become overwhelmed, and timeliness can be impacted. This can be difficult to predict as information needs will change over time but is important to keep in mind when considering including multiple targeting audiences with markedly different needs.
- Service mapping capacity - Often, a large component of information requests in emergencies – especially early in the emergency - relate to accessing services. Remember that as you expand your geographic focus, you will also need to expand your service mapping efforts. Consider what service mapping efforts already exist, and what it would take to build on these without overwhelming staff or sacrificing timeliness. See Module 3.2 for more on service mapping.
Preferences and barriers for communication:
- Languages - Serving multiple languages has significant impacts on staffing and budgeting. Consider that to work in multiple languages, you need daily translation and interpretation capacity – either through hiring staff who speak those languages, or through engaging with external actors (which can be extremely costly). See Module 2.4.6 for more on working across languages.
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Inclusion - Different client groups will face different barriers in accessing communication channels. It is extremely important that you focus on ‘universal design’ from the start, which means your services are usable by all people included in your target audience, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design. Consider whose needs you can feasibly and equitably meet and, if necessary, limit your scope to focus on universally designed services for those groups. There are many examples of risky power dynamics that can arise when some groups have access to lifesaving information and other groups are excluded. See Module 2.4.5 for more on risks. |