By Wanjiru Mathenge – WISH SBCC Advisor
In partnership with UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), International Planned Parenthood (IPPF) is currently implementing the 5th year of the flagship family planning programme Women’s Integrated Sexual Health (WISH2ACTION) that seeks to promote contraceptive use for priority populations including youth and adolescents, people living in poverty and humanitarian settings and people with disabilities.
One of the WISH outputs is Community/Individual Choice – people having the knowledge and community support to make informed SRHR decisions. Informed choice is at the heart of IPPF’s principles – ensuring that clients can make decisions that are based on comprehensible information, provided in ways that are appropriate at an individual level. To contribute to the achievement of this output, WISH2ACTION developed and implemented social behaviour change communication strategies. SBCC is the use of different communication approaches and tools to support changes to attitudes, knowledge, behaviour, and social norms. It is a process that seeks to effect positive behaviour change within individuals, communities, and societies; using three broad approaches i) Advocacy ii) Social mobilization and iii) behaviour change communications.
For the very first time WISH presented at the SBCC Summit held in December last year in Marrakesh city, Morocco. The conference attracted over 1800 practitioners: donors, researchers, high-level policy makers, and advocates from around the world. It emphasized the importance and potential for behaviour change communications and how it can be used to achieve the SDGs; by utilizing evidence-based, people-centred approaches to the communities that we serve.
In order for SBCC to be most impactful it needs to be scaled up and with the right investment this can lead to increased shifts in behaviour. This, in tandem, with leaving no one behind (LNOB) is a key output of the WISH programme.
IPPF’s new “Come Together” strategy sets a new course for the federation over the next 6 years, bringing to light an opportunity for the federation to utilize effective social behaviour change approaches to address social norms, ramp up our advocacy efforts and build social movements, to breaking barriers to enable quality SRHR for everyone, everywhere.
Jane Keliki, Technical officer, Reproductive health association of South Sudan presented on Men as agents of change, men as clients, men as partners: Lessons on engaging men to increase uptake of family planning in South Sudan.
Andrew Mkandawire, SBCC Manager, Family Planning Association of Malawi presented on Increasing Accessibility of FP information among Youth via Mobile Services: A case from the Family Planning Association of Malawi.
HOW IS SOCIAL AND BEHAVIOR CHANGE COMMUNICATION (SBCC) IMPORTANT IN THE PROGRAMME OF SRHR/FP IN SOUTH SUDAN.
Jane Keliki, Technical officer, Reproductive health association of South Sudan explains how she uses SBCC in her work and how its helping to change the lives of the people she supports through the programmes delivered.
Sifting Norms
Social and behavior change communication (SBCC) is so important in promoting and supporting recommended FP practices among women, girls, boys and partners. Service providers use it to address socio-cultural norms that are barriers to the access of FP methods; and builds a supportive environment for recommended for FP practices
Awareness
Through SBCC we were able to raise awareness, dispel myths, and generate demand for family planning services, and address barriers that prevent people from accepting and using FP.
Friendly Environment
RHASS created supportive and friendly environment in communities for women, girls and boy who sought family planning services by holding dialogue sessions in the community and schools with women, boys and girls including male partners on SRHR/FP massages.
Knowledge
Through SBCC that we Equip community with FP knowledge and encourage women and couples to make family planning choices that are right for them
Coverage
Through Mass media that the SRHR information’s has reached to large population including hard to reach areas and community education were used to improve clients’ participation in counseling sessions during services. As a result, more clients prepared questions for their family planning provider prior to their appointments and improved their communication with providers.
ON ORGANIZATION
Strengthen the capacity of local organizations to identify and effectively address crucial FP barriers in their country. Provide strategic communication frameworks around emerging FP topics, such ASSRHR/ hormonal contraception and HIV.