Translators without Borders (TWB) - findings on communicating with cyclone-affected people in Mozambique

The findings again highlight the importance of ensuring community engagement and accountability is based on early information on the languages and communication preferences of the people affected.

There are important conclusions here for any agency attempting to communicate effectively with affected people:

Portuguese is clearly not enough: 44% of the women surveyed don't understand spoken Portuguese.

Responding organisations need to invest in communicating in the languages of affected people: routinely gathering information on the languages they speak and understand, and calling on language specialists such as TWB for support.

Audio communication is vital: 65% of women and over half of people over the age of 50 surveyed don't understand written communication in any language.

People lack information on their options and the services available to them: 33% of people surveyed said they didn't have, or weren't sure they had, the information they needed.