AAP Technical Brief - Information and Feedback Centres (IFCs)

This Technical Brief captures the experiences and learning from UNICEF country offices in running Information and Feedback Centres (IFCs). It is part of a series, documenting key lessons from specific AAP practice drawing on UNICEF country examples, and is suitable for other country offices wanting to set-up or to strengthening localised channels for two-way communication.

IFCs are physical places run by volunteers or staff who support the two-way information flow (including questions, feedback, and complaints) between affected people and UNICEF, and potentially with humanitarian agencies and other service providers more broadly. Compared to larger-scale channels (such as hotlines and online platforms) individual IFCs have a small geographical coverage, and so often a series of IFCs are set up to cover several areas. The localized presence of IFCs within communities facilitates ongoing dialogue with affected populations, trust building, and potentially community ownership of the IFC itself. Being close to communities makes it easier to contextualize questions, feedback, and complaints received, verify details, and take local action. However, when multiple IFCs are set-up (providing multiple separate entry points for community feedback) data management can pose a challenge, in particular to the rapid collation of data and trend analysis to inform decision-making.