Abstract
This chapter interrogates the strategies that can be adopted when communicating during an emergency or crisis as one of the most important elements of a disaster preparedness plan in Zimbabwe. The chapter is based on a qualitative desktop study where literature review was gathered from the Google scholar and African Digital Research Repositories in the form of articles, secondary government reports and newspapers. During an emergency, it is critical that those within the region know how to communicate effectively. This means managing communications not only to locals, but also to foreigners. When a disaster occurs, it is often the misleading bit of information shared by an outsider that gins up rumours. To start develo** and executing a well-rounded communications strategy in Zimbabwe, a sound risk management should be conducted which includes, identifying the top threats and vulnerabilities to Zimbabwe; analysing the regions functions that are critical to its survival, identifying the resources needed to protect those critical regional functions, establishing a crisis management team, and designating certain people within that group to be responsible for communications.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Abarquez, I., & Murshed, Z. (2004). Field Practitioners’ handbook. Asian Disaster Preparedness Center.
Abunyewah, M., Gajendran, T., Maund, K., & Okyere, S. A. (2020). Strengthening the information deficit model for disaster preparedness: Mediating and moderating effects of community participation. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 46, 101–492.
Allen, J. (1993). The constructive paradigm: Values and ethics. Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 8(1/2), 31–54.
Arcaya, M., Raker, E. J., & Waters, M. C. (2020). The social consequences of disasters: Individual and community change. Annual Review of Sociology, 46, 671–691.
Bowen, S. A. (2005). A practical model of ethical decision making in issues management and public relations. Journal of Public Relations Research, 17(3), 191–216.
Cathy, P. (2018). Adaptive supervision: A theoretical model for social workers. CUP.
Chanza, N., Siyongwana, P. Q., Williams-Bruinders, L., Gundu-Jakarasi, V., Mudavanhu, C., Sithole, V. B., & Manyani, A. (2020). Closing the gaps in disaster management and response: Drawing on local experiences with Cyclone Idai in Chimanimani, Zimbabwe. International Journal of Disaster Risk Science, 11, 655–666.
Cherry, A. L., & Cherrys, M. E. (1997). A middle class response to disaster: FEMA’s policies and problems. Journal of Social Service Research, 23(1), 71–87.
Chikoko, W., & Mwapaura, K. (2022). Resilience of Persons with Road Accident Disabilities in the Face of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Budiriro High Density Residential Suburb, Harare, Zimbabwe. Journal of Urban Systems and Innovations for Resilience in Zimbabwe (JUSIRZ), 4(1), 283–300. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/362843354
Chikoko, W., & Mwapaura, K. (2023). Challenges and Opportunities for Child-Sensitive Social Protection Programmes in Zimbabwe. Journal of Social Development in Africa, 38(2), 1–30.
Chikoko, W., Mwapaura, K., Zvokuomba, K., Kabonga, I and Chinyeze, P. (2022a). Contemporary social protection programmes among the vulnerable elderly in Zimbabwe: Review of the capability approach. Journal of Public Policy in Africa (JOPPA), 9(2), 23–36. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/368981343
Chikoko, W., Mwapaura, K., Zvokuomba, K., Nyabeze, K and Soko, S. (2022b). Challenges and opportunities for indigenous social protection systems in Zimbabwe: A conceptual review. African Journal of Social Work, 12(5), 249–256. https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ajsw/article/view/255348
Chiimba, E. G., & Verne, J. (2022). Disaster communication beyond the state? Community organisations, informal information flows and the mediation of (mis) trust before and after Cyclone Idai in Zimbabwe. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 76, 103–012.
Cotterell, R. (1999). Transparency, mass media ideology and community. Cultural Values, 3(4), 414–426.
Doshi, R. (2021). The long game: China’s grand strategy to displace American order. Oxford University Press.
Douglas, K. D. (2016). Ethical communication. constable.
Farlan, A. (2018). Basic principles of ethical communications. Metheun.
Fink, S. (2010). Medical ethics in disasters. Doctors face ethical decisions in Haiti. Public Radio International Gillespie, DF, Murty SA, Rogge ME.
Gabriel, G. (2017). Cyclone Idai affected communities desperate for permanent shelter, livelihoods. Sage Publications.
Gillespie, D. F., Rogge, M. E., & Robards, K. E. (1996, February 15–18). Educating social workers for natural and technological disaster management. Paper presented at the 42nd Council on Social Work Education Annual Program Meeting.
Hansson, S., Orru, K., Siibak, A., Bäck, A., Krüger, M., Gabel, F., & Morsut, C. (2020). Communication-related vulnerability to disasters: A heuristic framework. International journal of disaster risk reduction, 51, 101931.
Horney, J., Dwyer, C., Aminto, M., Berke, P., & Smith, G. (2017). Develo** indicators to measure post‐disaster community recovery in the United States. Disasters, 41(1), 124–149.
Huang, Y. H. (2004). Is symmetrical communication ethical and effective? Journal of Business Ethics, 53, 333–352.
Kabonga, I., Zvokuomba, K., Musara, E., Chikoko, W., Mwapaura, K., & Nyabeze, K., (2022). Nongovernmental organizations’ enablers of asset accumulation and poverty reduction in Zimbabwe. International Social Work (ISW). 00(0), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1177/00208728221127658
Kurevakwesu, W., Chikwaiwa, B. K., & Mundau, M. (2022). The struggle for social work professional identity in contemporary Zimbabwe: A study on abuse of the social work title. Qualitative Social Work, 0(0), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1177/14733250211061827
Kuyt, J. (2019). Ethical communication: The basic principles. Teachers College Press.
Lydia, L. (2020). The logistics cluster in Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. The Pennsylvania State University.
Marlow, E., & Wilson, P. (1997). The breakdown of hierarchy: communicating in the evolving workplace. Boston: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Mavhura, E. (2020). Learning from the tropical cyclones that ravaged Zimbabwe: Policy implications for effective disaster preparedness. Natural Hazards, 104(3), 2261–2275.
Munemo, W., & Mwapaura K. (2023). ‘A burdensome journey’: The plight of mothers of children with disabilities in Torwood Community, Kwekwe, Zimbabwe. Journal of Social Issues in Non-Communicable Conditions & Disability, 2(2), 63–76. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/376271163
Mwapaura, K. (2023). ‘Nothing for us without us’: The deployment, access and impression of voting process towards full inclusion of people with disabilities in Zimbabwe. Brief Note. Journal of Social Issues in Non-Communicable Conditions & Disability, 2(1), 139–140. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/373738431
Mwapaura, K., & Chikoko, W. (2020). The measures that may be taken or used to ensure the well-being of persons with disabilities induced by road traffic accidents: The case of St Giles Rehabilitation Centre, Harare. ZAMBEZIA Journal of Humanities, 47(1), 87. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/368330691
Mwapaura, K., Chikoko, W., Nyabeze, K., Kabonga, I., & Zvokuomba, K. (2022). Provision of Child Protection Services in Zimbabwe: Review of the Human Rights Perspective. Cogent Social Sciences (OASS). 8(1), 2136–140. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2022.2136606.
Nyondo, R. (2006). The role of media in disaster management. Paper presented at African Universities Congress, Khartoum, Sudan (pp. 14–25).
Ngondo, P. S., & Klyueva, A. (2020). Exploratory study of public relations roles in Zimbabwe. Public Relations Review, 46(5), 101961.
Nyabeze, K., Jakaza, T., Chikoko, W., Mwapaura, K., & Zvokuomba, K. (2021). The Resilience of Female Sex Workers in the Wake of COVID-19 in Zimbabwe. Journal of Asian and African Studies (JAAS), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1177/00219096211013411
O’Mathuna, D., Gordijn, B., & Clarke, M. (2014). Disaster bioethics: Normative issues when nothing is Normal. Springer.
Panchal, N., Kamal, R., Orgera, K., Cox, C., Garfield, R., Hamel, L., & Chidambaram, P. (2020). The implications of COVID-19 for mental health and substance use. Kaiser family foundation, 21, 1–16.
Page, O. T. (2020). Articles R. High contagious and rapid spread of SARS coronavirus 2 methods. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 7, 1–7.
Reynolds, B., & Seeger, M. W. (2005). Crisis and emergency risk communication as an integrative model. Journal of Health Communication Research, 10, 43–55.
Skinner, C., & Rampersad, R. (2014). A revision of communication strategies for effective disaster risk reduction: A case study of the South Durban basin. North West University.
Thompson, P. (2020). Principles of ethical communications. Hodder and Stoughton.
Trenholm, S. (2020). Thinking through communication: An introduction to the study of human communication. Routledge.
Zastrow, C., & Hessenauer, S. L. (2022). Empowerment series: Introduction to social work and social welfare: Empowering people. Cengage Learning.
Zvokuomba, K., Chikoko, W., Kabonga, I., Mwapaura, K., & Nyabeze, K. (2021). An Ethnography of a Contagious Epidemic: Field Based Methodological Intricacies in the Zimbabwean Covid-19 Research Environment. Afrifuture Research Bulletin, 1(2), 46–62.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Mwapaura, K. (2024). Strategies That Can Be Adopted to Ensure Ethical Communication Before, During and After Crises and Disasters in Zimbabwe. In: Jakaza, E., Mangeya, H., Mhute, I. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Language and Crisis Communication in Sub-Saharan Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-43059-6_29
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-43059-6_29
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-43058-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-43059-6
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)