situation analysis: programme communication in west & central africa neil ford regional chief,...

Situation Analysis: Programme Communication in West & Central Africa

Neil FordRegional Chief, Programme CommunicationWest and Central Africa

Dakar: 8th April, 2008

Situation Analysis: Programme Communication in WCAR: 08 April 2008

OUR ENVIRONMENT

1. High disease burden and mortality, low enrollment, increasing threat of HIV/AIDS

2. Slow progress towards MDGs achievement

3. Weak Governance leading to poor Child Rights and little investment in children and protection issues

4. Recurrent conflicts and cyclical emergencies

5. The new aid environment with great opportunities for investment in Africa

6. Increased local resource base mainly linked to primary resources (oil)

7. Regional integration and economic structures

8. Diversity: Sahel, middle income resource rich countries, linguistic and cultural, the “Giants,” DRC and Nigeria


All-Africa Representatives’ Meeting: November 2006• Focus on child survival – more infants and young

children die in West and Central Africa than in any other region of the world. Lancet criticism of UNICEF

• Focus on Community-based approaches – most people treat illness in the household and community. They do not have access to the health system or cannot afford it

• Focus on Programme Communication – change at the household level can be achieved by facilitating a process of community learning


Group Work

How do we organize long-term, large-scale communication for CSD:

1. At household and interpersonal level2. With community-based media3. With national / large-scale media4. In partnership with private-sector

campaigns5. With institutions and academia


Organizing means:

Planning

Coordinating

Forming Partnerships

Funding

Ensuring government ownership

How do we start – immediate next steps?


Five commitments from the All Africa Representatives’ Meeting

1. Results for children by working at scale

2. Strengthening the evidence base for integrated community-based approaches

3. Measuring Results to improve accountability and tracking progress

4. Building Partnerships and leveraging of resources

5. Programme Communication and Advocacy


Regional Office Consultants

1. Where is large-scale community engagement happening now in our region?

- examples of good practice and demonstrated impact- examples of wide coverage, up to nation-wide- Elies Miller will report on Wednesday afternoon

2. What organizations in our region already have capacity in programme communication?

- NGOs, CBOs, media organizations that can help us- can they be formed into a Technical Resource Network?- Gunter Heidrich will report on Thursday morning


RMT: November 2006RMT ACTION POINT:The Regional Office with representatives to put in place a task team to support and promote across the region with partners, country strategies to go to scale with behaviour change communication around at least breastfeeding, ITN use, hand washing, ORT use and community new born care.

Task team is composed of: - Four Representatives (Benin, Mali, Burkina Faso, Liberia)- Two Deputy Reps (DRC, Sierra Leone)- Three Reg. Office Advisers (Prog. Comm, CSD, WASH)- Three Country Office Staff (Niger and Nigeria)


RMT Task Team Recommendations• Partnerships: with community-based organizations, faith-

based organizations, community radio stations, national mass media, private sector, etc.

• Funding, Human Resources and Team-building: to build capacity for long-term, large-scale communication strategies focused on key household behaviours

• Relationship with national governments: to secure ownership and sustainability consistent with the Paris Declaration

• Impact Measurement: to monitor and evaluate the contribution of programme communication to child survival


Who is a PC officer? (global data, 2006, n=206)

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

National International

Human Resource Capacity for Programme Communication


Level of Posts (global data, 2006, n=206)

86

40

56

2

9

17

64

10

21

62

95

13

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

GS NOA NOB NOC NOD P2/ L2 P3/ L3 P4/ L4 P5/ L5

FTTFTJPO

•60% of ALL posts at NOB & NOC levels, 78% of these are FT posts•Most TFT posts at NOB level


Human resource situation - WCAR• 2005: only two international posts in Country Offices – Nigeria and DRC

• 2006-7: new posts created for avian flu communication – short-term, now ending

• 2008: new international posts created in Congo Brazzaville, Ghana, Niger, Mali

• 2005-8: no new national posts created in Country Offices for programme communication

• 2005-8, Regional Office: One post lost, one post created, funding insecure. WCARO has the last P-5 Regional Advisor in the Unicef system.


Profile: the new C4D specialistProfessional background:

Social & Behavioural Sciences: sociology, anthropology, psychology …

Participatory Communication / Community Development

Communication and Media: community radio, theatre for development, new information technology (UNIWiki, web-based radio)

Technical Skills:

Participatory Research, Monitoring & Evaluation, Quality Assurance

Strategic Planning for Social & Behaviour Change

Communication Strategy Development, including Creative Design & Production

Intersectoral Adaptation and Coordination

Documentation


The Challenge Ahead

• Continue to expand and improve programme communication for integrated service delivery: immunization plus days, child health days or weeks

• Work in partnership with CSD colleagues to design and deliver long-term, large-scale communication strategies for key household behaviours

• Re-skill, re-learn, re-energize, re-position

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