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Introduction

The Risk Communications and Community Engagement Technical Working Group (RCCE TWG) was created in response to COVID-19 in order to develop best practices around community engagement given threat of pandemic in South Sudan. This product is a joint effort between members of the Communications and Community Engagement Working Group (CCE WG) under the Rumor Tracking Subcommittee (RTS) of the RCCE TWG and highlights rumors and public perceptions recently collected across the country.

This initiative captures reported instances of unverified information being transmitted to and within communities, as well as community understandings and interpretations of issues related to COVID-19. This brief provides examples of rumors and community perceptions on a state-by-state basis.

Methodology

Qualitative data for this bulletin is drawn from a variety of sources, such as Internews’s Rumor Tracking Methodology, targeted interviews and focus groups with community members conducted by IOM Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM), and REACH field enumerators. The reporting period covered by this bulletin is April 27-May 9 2020.

IOM CCCM data focuses on rumor tracking in displacement sites – Protection of Civilian (PoCs) and Collective Sites in Wau and Bentiu. IOM uses a rumor tracking tool approved by the CCCM cluster and data is complemented by the network of community mobilizers that engage leadership structures and the community on a regular basis. CCCM data was also provided by ACTED and Danish Refugee Council.

REACH data for this round was collected by field officers in nine states using a semi-structured interview tool.

All corresponding data was then thematically coded under particular rumor, concern and perception categories. The rumors reported are only indicative of perceptions in areas in which they were collected and not representative of all rumors, concerns and perceptions held in South Sudan.