National Social and Behaviour Change Communication Strategy for Integrated Early Childhood Development, Nutrition and WASH 2018 – 2024 (Government of Rwanda, 2018)
The National SBCC Strategy will build on the integration of Early Children Development, Nutrition and WASH sectors which provides opportunities of benefiting from integrated ECD, nutrition and WASH social behavior and communication services aiming at improving knowledge, attitude and practices at community and household levels. This strategy seeks to address key determinants related to early children development, malnutrition and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) mostly related to knowledge, attitude and practices at community and individual levels. There are many impediments within the health systems that prevent people from having productive and healthy lives. Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) addresses key barriers preventing people from adopting improved health practices. The Early Children Development, nutrition and WASH sectors within the health system can benefit positively from an SBCC strategy. ECD, Nutrition and WASH have multi-sectoral dimensions that require contributions from different disciplines including but not limited to agriculture, economic strengthening, public health, gender, medicine, and social science. The theories and models fromthese different domains can be extracted to develop and deliver effective behavior change communications particularly in the context of promoting positive ECD, nutritional and WASH related practices at household and community level in Rwanda. By addressing key barriers related to ECD, Nutrition and WASH by promoting Community and Household integrated best practices, this will ensure optimum health status ...
Engaging Community Members to Adopt Effective WASH Practices for Nutrition (SPRING brief, 2017)
The first 1,000 days, the period from pregnancy to two years of age, are critical for early childhood development. During this time, children are especially vulnerable to stunting, an irreversible condition that can result in lifelong cognitive and physical deficits. In 2011, stunting, or low height-for-age, affected more than 165 million children worldwide (Black et al. 2013). Mounting evidence indicates that poor water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) practices contribute significantly to stunting. Improving WASH practices reduces diarrheal disease, environmental enteric dysfunction, and soil-transmitted helminth (parasitic worm) infections. Combined, these reductions contribute to decreases in stunting. In Ghana, stunting is a particularly serious challenge. According to the 2014 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS), 19 percent of Ghanaian children under the age of 5 are stunted. Among the regions with the highest rates of stunting is the Northern Region, where the prevalence is 33 percent (GDHS 2014). WASH practices in many parts of the country contribute to this problem. The majority of households (93 percent) do not treat their drinking water by any method (GDHS 2014), while only 14 percent use an improved toilet facility that is not shared with other households (GDHS 2014). In the two weeks preceding the 2014 GDHS survey, the overall rate of diarrhea reported among children under five was 12 percent, a figure which tends to vary seasonally. The SPRING project is ...
UNICEF C4D for Education paper series (2016)
A Global Evidence Review of Communication for Development (C4D) in support of inclusive and quality education demonstrated the contribution C4D to education outcomes, specifically in the areas of inclusion, equity and gender. The three briefs presented here summarize key findings of the evidence review, discuss key principles in applying and strengthening C4D for Education, and provide recommendations for policy and programming in support of education outcomes, while emphasising regional context and priorities. Programme brief: Addressing social norms and gender in support of equity in education [PDF] Programme brief: A social and behaviour change agenda for inclusion and equity in education [PDF] Programme brief: Investing in Communication for Development to enhance quality education and learning outcomes [PDF] Source: https://www.unicef.org/esaro/5481_c4d-education-briefs.html ...
Redesigning an education project for child friendly radio: a multisectoral collaboration to promote children’s health, education, and human rights after a humanitarian crisis in Sierra Leone (BMJ 2018; 363 :k4667)
In this paper the authors describe how an educational project was rapidly adapted into a radio education programme after the 2014 Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone. In May 2014, Sierra Leone reported its first case of Ebola in Kailahun, a remote, marginalised, and impoverished district bordering Liberia. The district had one of the highest concentrations of Ebola infections during this outbreak. After this, over 1600 children were orphaned and gender inequalities were exacerbated . Public health control measures put in place by the government of Sierra Leone included closing all schools and prohibiting public congregation. The educational programme “Getting Ready for School”, funded by the UK charity Comic Relief, had been operating since its launch in 2011 within 21 schools in Kailahun. While many other educational services stopped entirely in Kailahun, the Getting Ready for School programme was redesigned as a radio education programme called Pikin to Pikin Tok (PtPT), meaning Child to Child Talk, in Krio. The lead consortium partner was Child to Child, a UK based international child rights non-governmental organisation (NGO) (www.childtochild.org.uk), and the lead implementing partner was Pikin-To-Pikin (www.pikintopikin.org), a local NGO. The goals and objectives of the project changed in response to the circumstances in ...
How Is Radio Helping to Improve Girls’ Education in South Sudan (BBC Media Action Research, 2017)
South Sudan, the newest country in the world, has some of the lowest educational indicators globally. Girls particularly struggle to achieve educational milestones, with very few of those who complete primary school continuing onto secondary education. In 2016, 128,000 girls started primary education, but only 2,700 completed secondary. The project: The Girls Education South Sudan (GESS) project – funded by the UK’s Department for International Development – aims to change this, so that all girls can go to, stay in, and achieve at school. A consortium-based five-year-long initiative (2013-2018) of the Government of the Republic of South Sudan, GESS aims to transform the lives of a generation of children in the country – especially girls – through education. Midline research found that listeners of the radio programme Our School – which seeks to raise awareness of the benefits of education and tackle associated barriers – had more knowledge of South Sudan’s education system, had been more involved in education, and had budgeted for and discussed education with girls or daughters more than non-listeners. Click here for full paper ...
Large-Scale Social and Behavior Change Communication Interventions Have Sustained Impacts on Infant and Young Child Feeding Knowledge and Practices – Results of a 2-Year Follow-Up Study in Bangladesh (The Journal of Nutrition, 148:10, 2018)
Sustained improvements in infant and young child feeding (IYCF) require continued implementation of effective interventions. From 2010–2014, Alive & Thrive (A&T) provided intensive interpersonal counseling (IPC), community mobilization (CM), and mass media (MM) in Bangladesh, demonstrating impact on IYCF practices. Since 2014, implementation has been continued and scaled up by national partners with support from other donors and with modifications such as added focus on maternal nutrition and reduced program intensity. The authors assessed changes in intervention exposure and IYCF knowledge and practices in the intensive (IPC + CM + MM) compared with nonintensive areas (standard nutrition counseling + less intensive CM and MM) 2 y after termination of initial external donor support. Conclusions: Continued IPC exposure and sustained impacts on IYCF knowledge and practices in intensive areas indicated lasting benefits from A&T's interventions as they underwent major scale-up with reduced intensity. Click here for full article ...
Shifting Norms, Changing Behaviour, Amplifying Voice: What Works? 2018 International Social and Behaviour Change Communication Conference (Summit Report 2018)
The 2018 SBCC Summit took place from 16 – 20 April 2018 and was organized to better understand what works in shifting social norms, changing behaviours and in amplifying the voice of those who have most at stake in the success of development efforts. It was designed to wrestle with the profound issues of social justice and agenda setting that affect these decisions and included a wide range of participation from government, regional entities, academics, NGOs, CSOs, global agencies and the private sector working on development and health issues. This report provides a taste of the 2018 Summit, some highlights of the weeklong event, a few lessons learned and food for thought for a 2020 Summit. More insights can be found in a special issue about the Summit published by The Journal of Development Communication ...
Participatory Research Toolkit (Rain Barrel Communications, 2018)
This toolkit gathers together a wide variety of participatory research tools developed over a 20-year period and used in multiple social and behaviour change communication (SBCC) projects around the world. Examples are provided from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Mozambique, Nepal, Rwanda, and Sierra Leone. All of the tools presented have been tried and tested. A majority of them have been used with adolescents. However, children, women, men, key influentials and, indeed, whole communities have used them. The tookit provides an overarching description of the tool as a whole, next, there is a list of topics and countries where the research team has had first-hand experience of working with these tools, and then there is a selection of concrete examples. Finally, each tool is accompanied by suggested “how-to’s” with step by step instructions, tips and techniques that have been employed in real-world settings. Click here for full toolkit ...
Let’s Make it Work! Breastfeeding in the Workplace – Using C4D to make breastfeeding possible among working mothers (UNICEF, 2018)
In 2016, with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, UNICEF launched two country-level initiatives to improve breastfeeding practices of infants of working mothers, in partnership with businesses operating in two distinct settings: • Ready-made garment (RMG) factory sites located in the urban and peri-urban areas of Dhaka, Bangladesh. • A vast tea estate situated in Kericho County, Kenya. The objective of the mother- and babyfriendly workplace initiatives is to increase working mothers’ demand for and access to facilities and services that support appropriate breastfeeding practices and care in the workplace.” In doing so, the initiatives aim to generate evidence on the operational feasibility, effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of supporting breastfeeding in the workplace, and to showcase its benefits for children, families, communities and businesses. UNICEF applied the Communication for Development (C4D) process to design social and behavioural change communication strategies to increase acceptance of, and demand for, workplace breastfeeding programmes in each context. This document presents accomplishments to date and conceptual thinking in C4D for promoting breastfeeding support in the workplace, emanating from these two experiences and building upon available evidence and lessons learned from former experiences. The document is intended for programme planners within UNICEF as well as ...
Wumen Bagung – Communication for Development and Social Change Bulletin: “Whose Theory Counts?” (RMIT, 2018)
This edition of Wumen Bagung explores four key themes, each focused on how communication outcomes are influenced by the role of the community, and whether it is passive or active participant. The first theme brings together analyses from across Asia of different ways of communicating to local communities starting with a review of how water, hygiene and sanitation services are communicated in Cambodia, fresh approaches to communication underway in Myanmar by the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the use of cable television in local Philippine communities. The second theme - which details outside approaches to communication for development (C4D) - opens with Robert Boughen’s challenge for us to rethink Chinese media development investments, not from a neoliberal development perspective, rather through acknowledging that Chinese media assistance in Africa ‘has an active function in a cohesive model of the ‘development economy’. Edwar Hanna and Jackie Davies of C4D Network consider the effects of urbanisation on communication for development, while Sina Øversveen critically examines the Freedom of the Press Index. The third theme focuses on the lessons to be learned from local communities by directly involving them in C4D. In ‘The Space Between’, Donna Griffin takes us on a journey of ...
Communication for Development (C4D) Promising practices (UNICEF East Asia & Pacific, 2018)
Communication for Development (C4D) promising practices are dialogue-driven interventions that lead to the sustainable improvement of living conditions for children and their families, particularly the most vulnerable. This booklet brings together four outstanding examples from Cambodia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Viet Nam, where UNICEF-supported interventions by governments and civil society organizations are bringing about positive change. Click here for full booklet ...
Using the Community Conversation Approach to Tackle Gender Inequalities (Save the Children learning brief, 2017)
Adolescent girls in Kenya face a number of risks and vulnerabilities that can affect their health, education status, and general well-being. The Adolescent Girls Initiative-Kenya (AGI-K) is currently delivering multi-sectoral interventions, targeting violence prevention, education, health, and wealth creation to adolescent girls aged 11 to 15 in two marginalized areas of Kenya. This learning brief is one of three, prepared during the implementation phase of the project, focusing on key areas of best practices and lessons learn. These briefs aim to share learning with specialists and civil society networks, and help inform future design and management of adolescent girls’ programmes in hard-to-reach, marginalized communities. Community conversations are a socially transformative approach that galvanizes communities to address the underlying causes of underdevelopment and vulnerability. The approach provides a platform where a cross section of the community members including local administrators, religious leaders, parents, teachers, community health workers, young men and women, converge and reflect on the challenges faced by the girls. They further identify steps to take to resolve these challenges and draw action plans that will eventually lead to a change in attitude, values, beliefs and practices that impede adolescent girls from realizing their full potential or well-being. Click here ...