---
id: "coronavirus-smarter-crowdsourcing:strategies/Work-with-local-community-leaders-to-tailor-policy"
type: "GovLab policy strategy"
title: "Work with local community leaders to tailor policy decisions to the needs of the community."
url: "https://coronavirus.smartercrowdsourcing.org/strategies/work-with-local-community-leaders-to-tailor-policy"
summary: "Work with local community leaders to tailor policy decisions to the needs of the community."
source: "The GovLab (coronavirus.smartercrowdsourcing.org)"
licence: "Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)"
---

# Work with local community leaders to tailor policy decisions to the needs of the community.

Work with local community leaders to tailor policy decisions to the needs of the community.

- Timeframe: 3-6 Months (medium)
- Audience: Civil Society, Vulnerable Populations, Organized Civil Society
- Type: Policy/Legislative/Regulatory, Partnerships, Vulnerable Populations
- Recommendation: [Engage the Public and Civil Society Organizations](https://coronavirus.smartercrowdsourcing.org/recommendations/engage-the-public-and-civil-society-organizations)
- Part of: [Smarter Crowdsourcing in the Age of Coronavirus](https://coronavirus.smartercrowdsourcing.org/)

## Actions governments should take

1. Form multi-sectoral commissions with diverse representations of experts as well as representatives from the communities themselves to conduct needs assessments and define the specific vulnerable groups needing support.
2. Post information online or write articles describing the process by which policies and programs are developed and how the public and specific vulnerable groups were engaged throughout the engagement.
3. Host a town hall where the public can ask questions to the experts or the government. The government can televise, live stream, or otherwise host this forum on a free and public platform to ensure it has broad reach to many segments of the population.
4. To engage specific vulnerable populations, the government should conduct targeted listening sessions and outreach to identified populations to meet them in locations where they are located and most comfortable.
5. Coordinate citizen-led messaging campaigns, where members of the target audience are the main spokespersons and public faces for that specific information campaign.

## Examples from around the world

1. [The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)organized a conversation with representatives of refugee-led organizations to discuss their needs and priorities as they relate to COVID-19 and how they can best be supported.](https://www.unhcr.org/2020-unhcr-annual-consultations-with-ngos/opening-conversation-high-commissioner.html)