Pillar 2. Risk Communication and Community Engagement
Step		Actions to Be Taken	Responses and Plans
1	1	Implement the national risk communication and community engagement plan for COVID‑19, including details of anticipated public health measures (use the existing procedures for the influenza pandemic, if available)	The Municipality, the Governor’s Office, and the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting reported no program foreseen until August 2020
	2	Conduct rapid behavior assessment to understand the key target audience, perceptions, concerns, influencers, and preferred communication channels	None
	3	Prepare local messages and pretest through a participatory process, specifically targeting key stakeholders and at-risk groups	None
	4	Identify trusted community groups (local influencers such as community leaders, religious leaders, health workers, and communityvolunteers) and local networks (women’s groups, youth groups, business groups, traditional healers, etc.)	None
2	5	Establish and utilize clearance processes for timely dissemination of messages and materials in local languages and adopt relevantcommunication channels	None
	6	Engage with existing public health and community-based networks, media, local NGOs, schools, local governments, and othersectors, such as health care service providers, education sector, business, travel, and food/agriculture sectors using a consistentmechanism of communication	Based on the successful experience of social media channels for different health services for different populations, new channels were specially introduced for COVID-19 communication, mostly based on social media groups.
	7	Utilize 2-way channels for community and public information sharing such as hotlines (text and talk), responsive social media such as U-Report where available, and radio shows, with systems to detect and rapidly respond to and counter misinformation	None
	8	Establish large-scale community engagement for social and behavior change approaches to ensure preventive community andindividual health and hygiene practices in line with the national public health containment recommendations	None
3	9	Systematically establish community information and feedback mechanisms through social media monitoring, communityperceptions, knowledge, attitude, and practice surveys, and direct dialogues and consultations	None
	10	Ensure changes to community engagement approaches based on evidence and needs, and ensure all engagement is culturallyappropriate and empathetic.	None
	11	Document lessons learned to inform future preparedness and response activities	National documentation of regional experiences is in progress by regional health deputies.