Risk and Crisis Communication During Covid-19 in Algeria: Planning and Practice Evaluation

This study evaluates Algeria’s communication strategy during the Covid-19 pandemic by examining the alignment between the national Preparedness and Response Plan and the communication practices implemented throughout the crisis. Using a qualitative descriptive approach, the study relies on documentary analysis of governmental communication plans, official statements, media coverage, and scholarly literature on risk and crisis communication. The findings show that although Algeria adopted a structured communication framework consistent with international guidelines—such as transparency, rumor monitoring, and expert mobilization—its implementation encountered several institutional and communicative challenges that limited overall effectiveness. Key obstacles included fluctuations in public trust due to inconsistencies in epidemiological reporting and delays in clarifying technical errors, in addition to uneven media coordination, limited opportunities for two-way communication, and a predominantly expert-centered, one-directional messaging style. The analysis further demonstrates that access to official information was significantly more restricted among marginalised populations, including rural communities, residents of “shadow areas,” low-income households, migrants, and persons with disabilities. Digital gaps, infrastructural constraints, and linguistic or cultural barriers shaped how these groups received, interpreted, and acted upon risk messages, underscoring that the effectiveness of communication during the pandemic depended not only on message clarity but also on inclusiveness, equity, and access. The study concludes that effective crisis communication requires more than technical accuracy: It must integrate principles of social equity, community engagement, and message adaptation to the needs of marginalised groups. Strengthening transparency, improving coordination between authorities and media, expanding community-based communication channels, and ensuring equitable access to information emerge as essential components for enhancing public trust and societal resilience during future health emergencies. The Algerian experience ultimately demonstrates that structural communication gaps disproportionately affect vulnerable groups and that evaluating the success of risk communication efforts requires careful attention to how marginalised populations access, understand, and act upon public-health information.