Abstract:
In this paper we engage with the situation of internally displaced persons
(IDPs) residing in two informal settlements in Zimbabwe, within the context of the
COVID-19 pandemic. We draw on an ongoing collaborative, interdisciplinary, and
impact-oriented project that seeks to help IDPs to be better prepared to protect them
selves from the COVID-19 pandemic. We start by providing an analysis of the existing
COVID-19 preventative messages and their applicability to the IDPs’ situation, and
further argue for the need to adopt Transformative Public Health Education (TPHE),
to allow co-creation and co-production with IDPs in order to produce messages and
interventions that suit their lived realities. We then move on to show the importance
of leveraging local low-cost COVID-19 solutions, drawing on the example of the
innovations that the project adapted in order to meet the needs of the IDPs residing
in the two informal settlements.