The United Nations Department of Global Communications (DGC) promotes global awareness and paintings of the United Nations through its network paintings of United Nations Information Centres (UNICs) around the world. The United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva is aimed at local audiences in Switzerland.
“Fighting COVID-19 is about sharing the right data on what we can all do to prevent the spread of infection. But how do we do this in Senegal, where there are more than a dozen languages?To locate an artist and reliable solution, the United Nations Public Information Team in Dakar partnered with unwavering musicians in the country and in the wider West African diaspora. the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in Senegal.
“When I was on a project in Kinshasa, I enjoyed listening to conpasslese music on Radio Okapi. It’s glorious because it mixes African and Latin rhythms. In Dakar, I liked to go to concerts to listen to her live,” says Damian. Cardona, music lover and pianist, and since February 2015, director of the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in Dakar, Senegal.
However, in this new era of COVID, this is not so much the time for concerts as for preventive measures. In Dakar, the number of cases of infection is not the best (as of May 12, the national total 1995 cases, adding another 742 people cured and 19 dead) and a curfew puts the people to sleep from 8 p. m. at 6 a. m. every day. The use of a mask has been mandatory since April 17 in all state services, the private sector, department stores and public transport, and all common spaces are closed.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, UNIC Dakar has produced 3 public service videos, where music selection is a key factor. The key is to use local sounds that other people recognize right away.
“The most recent video is about fake news, misleading data that creates even more concern than the disease itself, for example, that mosquitoes transmit the virus,” Damian says. Our purpose was to provide reliable data on a topic that concerns people, but at the same time conveys tranquility and serenity. “
In the other two videos, important facts about the disease and how handwashing and physical distancing can protect others are shared. Making movies is rarely a very simple procedure, but think you’d have to produce them in multiple languages, like Damian’s team does. “The texts of the 3 videos are in French, but we are in the process of dubbing them into a dozen languages such as Bambara, Wolof, Lingala and Kirundi. Here the elites speak French, but other people speak in their own language. “he said.
The next challenge for the UN team will be to produce a video featuring Senegalese singer-songwriter Baaba Maal with the World Health Organization and Senegalese sports authorities, to convince others to remain alert to the infection.
Anchored in Senegal since 1964, the Dakar Information Centre has developed a truly impressive influence in French- and Portuguese-speaking African countries, from Cape Verde to Madagascar, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania and Senegal. It also plays a vital role in the Sahel region and beyond.
“We need COVID-19 messages to succeed in other West African diasporas in countries like France, Spain or Canada,” Damian says.
Closer to home, Damian’s office also oversees assistance to foreign officials and their families. “We are talking about a group of about 4,000 more people who will access a forum to share their reports or request information,” he explains.
Although Dakar does not yet have a significant number of COVID-19 cases, the economic and social effects of the crisis are already being felt: many other people have lost their jobs and we are living in a wonderful moment of collective uncertainty.
“What’s horrible is that while the nature of the disease is democratic and doesn’t discriminate against anyone, those who were already the vulnerable maximums will be even more vulnerable with COVID-19,” Damián says. “We want to make it true that the data is also democratic.
Will we build a bigger world after COVID-19?”I don’t think we’ll become a ‘Brave New World’ like Aldous Huxley, but I’m sure we’re going to figure out a lot of things,” Damian said. . ” The impact was so strong that it taught us how to strengthen public health, information, education and resilience. If there’s one symbol that sums it all up for Damian, it’s this: a young Senegalese man running along the waterfront. He has been ahead of all the other cyclists, and he is dressed in a mask. “The disease is there, but so is life,” says Damien.
The Manguinhos Ballet, named after its favela in Rio de Janeiro, returns to the level after a long absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It has as interpreters 250 young people and adolescents from the favela. The ballet organization provides social assistance in a network where poverty, hunger and teenage pregnancy are ongoing problems.
The pandemic has put many other people to the test, and news hounds are no exception. The coronavirus has waged war not only against the lives and well-being of others, but has also generated countless deceptions and clinical lies.
The pandemic has shown how vital it is that the right of access to data is reliable and that reliable and accurate data is freely available for government and citizen decision-making – a win-win situation.