Rooted in Trust is a pandemic information response plan countering the unprecedented scale and speed of the spread of rumors and misinformation about COVID-19. The plan is global in reach and grounded in hyper-local information ecosystems in the Philippines, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Mali, Sudan, the Central African Republic and Colombia to ensure impact on the global level and on the local level directly in vulnerable communities affected by humanitarian crises. Rooted in Trust will ensure that the work of humanitarian and health organizations is shaped by and responsive to the expressed needs of vulnerable communities and local contexts as the pandemic unfolds.
Since July 2020, Internews' Rooted in Trust project has collected close to 20,000 rumours from the seven project countries. We work in 12 local languages and collect data across seven major social media platforms and a wide range of feedback collection channels, including door-to-door surveys, informal meetings, assessments, community meetings, listening groups, SMS, and radio call-in shows.