Welcome to the Communication is Aid course. 

When disaster strikes people need food, shelter, water and safety. They also need information and they need to be able to communicate – with each other and with those trying to help them. Through information provision and dialogue it is possible to engage people actively in the response: enabling them to make informed decisions about keeping themselves and their families safe, where and how to access essential services, and participating in activities and decisions that affect their lives.

In this online self-study course, you will learn how to engage affected communities to help provide the information they need and establish communication mechanisms for dialogue with disaster responders. You’ll be faced with a number of fictitious crises, both natural and man-made, and you will need to respond appropriately.

While this course can be completed on a phone, many of the exercises depend on the use of supporting documents and guidance that might be easier to view on a larger screen or after printing. Also, be aware that while the documents are configured to open in a new tab or window, your browser settings might override this and cause the documents to download instead.

Finally, during the course you will see website links to optional, external resources that will take you out of the course. If you are using the Kaya offline player, you will not be able to access these resources.

	Is this course for me?
	This introductory course targets humanitarian staff who engage with disaster affected communities regularly, though it can also be explored by others who are interested in improving their knowledge and skills in this area.
	How will I benefit from this course?
	On completion of this course you will gain an understanding of: how communication can be used to support disaster-affected people and programme objectives how to assess the information needs of the community and decide through which channel(s) of communication to reach them how to create and adapt information and messages to maximise impact how to develop a communications strategy how to manage and respond to feedback from the community.
	How long will it take?
	It should take you about 3 hours to complete.
	How much does it cost?
	This course is free.
	Will I get a certificate at the end?
	Yes! You will be able to download a certificate after you have completed all the modules and the feedback form.
	How do I start?
	Scroll to the top of the page and click on the       Join course        button. This will take you through to the course modules. You don’t need to complete the course in one go - you can always continue later from where you left off.