As access to the internet and social media increases, so do the opportunities for sharing and receiving information during a public health emergency. With rumours swirling around the world on different symptoms and treatments of COVID-19 in the early stages of the pandemic, the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned of an ‘infodemic’ - issuing guidance on effective Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) (WHO, 2020a). Increased use of social media, understanding of how these platforms can be used to reach and engage people, and partnerships with major platforms have led to international organisations such as WHO and UNICEF using chatbots as a public health communication tool for the first time in a global pandemic. 

In February 2020, UNICEF’s digital community engagement platform ‘U-Report’ launched one of the world’s first COVID-19 chatbots. Shortly after, U-Report was also used to poll young people to help inform the COVID-19 response. By June 2020, over 20 million people had been reached with COVID-19 information through the platform (U-Report, 2020a). 

Through qualitative interviews with members of the U-Report global and local teams, quantitative analysis of U-Report data, and analysis of its chatbot scripts, this paper uses a critical realist lens to explore Communication for Development opportunities and challenges for strategic mass communication, participation and empowerment in public health emergencies. The case study will show that in addition to one-way reach and engagement, U-Report deployed two-way, participatory communication to generate knowledge during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Research also shows that Communication for Development was a core consideration in the development and implementation of U-Report’s COVID-19 response.