C-Picks 22 - SBCC for Communities

SBCC for Communities: HIV and MARPs; Girls and Boys and GBV; and Male Circumcision

In This Issue

SBCC and HIV PREVENTION FOR MOST AT RISK POPULATIONS

1. HIV Communication for MSM, PLHIV, and Sex Workers in The Bahamas

2. HIV Communication for MSM, PLHIV, and Sex Workers in Jamaica: Action Media Findings and Communication Brief

3. PRASIT: Using Strategic Behavioral Communication to Change Gender Norms in Cambodia

4. Empowering Men Who Have Sex with Men to Live Healthy Lives in Colombia

5. Legal Environments, Human Rights and HIV Responses among Men Who Have Sex with Men and Transgender People in Asia and the Pacific: An Agenda for Action

GENDER EQUITY, GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE, SCHOOL YOUTH, AND THEIR COMMUNITY

6. Intervention to Decrease School-Related Gender-Based Violence (SRGBV) in Katanga Province, DRC

7. Gender Equality in Education: Resources from the Safe Schools Program: Pilot Phase

8. "Vrai Djo" Project: Final Report

9. Stop Violence Against Girls in School Project

10. The Girl Effect: What Do Boys Have to Do with It?

COMMUNICATION FOR MALE CIRCUMCISION AND HIV PREVENTION

11. Communication Guide: Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC)

12. Special Collection of Male Circumcision (MC) Communication

13. Southern and Eastern Africa Region Male Circumcision Communication Meeting: A Joint UNAIDS & PEPFAR Coordinated Meeting, September 22-24, 2010

C-Hub is an online repository for health and development communication resources. C-Hub will have a New Look and Enhanced Features in February. Users are encouraged to join the C-Hub community and share communication resources that their projects have developed. Users can search for communication resources by topic, country, language, and producer. Users can also sign up for regular updates, and connect with C-Hub via Facebook and Twitter, to learn about new resources added to the site. Find out more here.

SBCC and HIV PREVENTION FOR MOST AT RISK POPULATIONS

1. HIV Communication for MSM, PLHIV, and Sex Workers in The Bahamas

This November 2011 report highlights the Action Media methodology utilised by C-Change during a workshop in The Bahamas in September 2011 with most-at-risk populations (MARP): men who have sex with men (MSM), individuals engaged in sex work (SW) contexts, and people living with HIV (PLHIV). Action Media is a participatory research methodology that integrates the perspectives of focal audiences in the development of social and behaviour change communication (SBCC) resources and tools. "The methodology worked consistently well with all groups, achieving high levels of participation and generating a range of creative concepts in a short space of time. Participants appreciated the opportunity for open discussion and interaction on issues that directly affect them."

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2. HIV Communication for MSM, PLHIV, and Sex Workers in Jamaica: Action Media Findings and Communication Brief

This March 2011 report highlights the Action Media methodology used by C-Change for workshops in Jamaica in November 2010 with MSM, SWs, and community educators to inform the development of SBCC resources to support and strengthen HIV prevention interventions. During the workshops, an experimental approach was taken towards understanding participant perspectives on material design. Findings from these workshops will be used to inform the development of a package of SBCC materials for peer educators and others interacting with SWs and MSM. Additional materials/media created will aim to increase the reach of these smaller group interventions by appealing to a wider set of SWs and MSM (e.g. social media activities, word of mouth campaigns, etc.).

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3. PRASIT: Using Strategic Behavioral Communication to Change Gender Norms in Cambodia

From USAID's AIDSTAR-One, this case study examines a 4-year programme that works to prevent HIV in Cambodia by reaching out to entertainment workers (EWs), their mainly middle class and male clients, and MSM using strategic behaviour communication. For example, the MStyle programme projects the image of positive, knowledgeable MSM who know how to protect their sexual health. PRASIT workers also conduct monthly outreach to MStyle members, so that each person receives an individual contact up to 7-8 times annually. Sample impact: "Vishnai, a 24-year-old noodle seller at the old Sai market, is a regular at the MStyle club....'My friends in the park told me about the club. I already used a referral from the club to visit a nearby clinic to get a health check-up, and the staff were very friendly. Now I feel confident about my health. Coming to the club has given me the skills to negotiate with my partner about condom use. I had no idea how to do it before coming to the club. I'm very happy because my partner has agreed to go for a health check-up as well'."

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4. Empowering Men Who Have Sex with Men to Live Healthy Lives in Colombia

From September 2011, this case study from AIDSTAR-One explores one effort to reach out to and include members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community in Colombia, who are often marginalised due to "pervasive stigma and discrimination". It examines the efforts of Bogotá's Colombia's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center (LGBT CC) to provide a social and educational base for its clients (MSM) while also advocating for their rights. According to this case study, what has worked well includes: (i) Filling a service gap for LGBT individuals in Bogotá: "Both staff and users of the community center emphasized the value that the psychological services alone provide to community center users; MSM said that the center has helped them to accept their sexual orientation and gender identity, and to understand and defend their rights as MSM. The community center added more space in response." (ii) HIV prevention through social and political action: "The value of the space and support that the community center offers for reflection, organizing, and empowerment cannot be overestimated in terms of its contribution to HIV prevention and mitigation."

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5. Legal Environments, Human Rights and HIV Responses among Men Who Have Sex with Men and Transgender People in Asia and the Pacific: An Agenda for Action

From the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), this July 2010 study of legal environments affecting HIV responses among MSM and transgender people was undertaken to fill gaps in knowledge about: (i) the effects of laws and law enforcement policies and practices on HIV responses among MSM and transgender people, and (ii) the role of civil society organisations, governments, donors, United Nations (UN) agencies, and other multilateral agencies in supporting improvements to legal environments affecting MSM and transgender people. According to the study, the experience of many countries of Asia and the Pacific is that repressive legal environments can result in a range of adverse consequences for HIV responses. Actions for advocacy in Asia Pacific region governments are offered, as well as recommendations for donors and multilateral organisations.

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GENDER EQUITY, GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE, SCHOOL YOUTH, AND THEIR COMMUNITY

6. Intervention to Decrease School-Related Gender-Based Violence (SRGBV) in Katanga Province, DRC

C-Change is implementing a programme to reduce school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV) in 31 schools in Katanga Province in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The programme: uses the USAID Safe Schools Doorways program in schools; has developed radio spots that confront harsh school discipline and attitudes about education for girls and air on several local radio stations in Swahili; has developed advocacy materials, including comic books; and has promoted the formation of student clubs and parent groups to address violence in the school, community, and home. The materials and radio spots are available for download on C-Hub.

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7. Gender Equality in Education: Resources from the Safe Schools Program: Pilot Phase

A number of resources, manuals, and publications were produced as part of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Safe Schools Program, which worked from September 2003 to November 2008 to reduce school-related gender-based violence in selected schools in Ghana and Malawi to support the longer-term goal of improving educational and health outcomes for girls and boys.

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8. "Vrai Djo" Project: Final Report

This July 2011 report shares an evaluation of "Vrai Djo", a behaviour change communication (BCC) campaign designed by the Search for Common Ground (SFCG) launched to promote positive male role models in the fight against sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The aim of this campaign, which uses short films (public service announcements, or PSAs) featuring a DRC celebrity (Celeo Scram, "a superstar of Congolese music...[who] has not succumbed to negative temptations and his behaviour is considered to be exemplary for a Congolese music star") in order to contribute to a change in male attitudes towards more positive and constructive behaviour towards women. In short, the evaluation found that the "Vrai Djo" campaign has contributed to a change in male behaviour.

For more information on the Vrai Djo" ("Real Man") PSA Campaign, please click here.

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9. Stop Violence Against Girls in School Project

Launched by ActionAid and local partners in Ghana, Kenya, and Mozambique, this initiative uses a combined approach consisting of community-level initiatives, research, and advocacy to empower girls and reduce violence against girls in schools (VAGS). Project activities fall under 4 broad categories: creating girl-friendly environments; training and capacity building; raising awareness and campaigning; and advocating for change in policy and practice.

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10. The Girl Effect: What Do Boys Have to Do with It?

From October 5-6 2010, the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) with support from the Nike Foundation convened a gathering of experts to share research and programmatic experiences of working to engage girls and boys as "change agents" for a more equitable world. This briefing note for that meeting explores "the girl effect", defined as "the unique potential of 600 million adolescent girls to end poverty for themselves and the world". Amongst the conclusions from the report: school-based and community-based programmes are the most common points of entry for adolescent programmes.

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COMMUNICATION FOR MALE CIRCUMCISION AND HIV PREVENTION

11. Communication Guide: Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC)

C-Change worked with the Kenya National Task Force on Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) and developed a communication guide for Nyanza Province and communication materials (billboards, posters, videos, radio spots, fact sheets, dialogue cards, a handbook for community mobilisers, and more) for the rollout of the medical male circumcision programme in Nyanza Province in western Kenya. Download the materials and a video from C-Hub.

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12. Special Collection of Male Circumcision (MC) Communication

The Special Collection of Male Circumcision (MC) Communication materials is available on C-Hub. It includes communication materials developed by the partners working on Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) communication in southern and eastern Africa, who participated in the September 2010 UNAIDS-PEPFAR Male Circumcision Communication Meeting in South Africa The materials promote MC as a proven HIV prevention intervention and have been used in Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, and Zambia. The communication materials are in eight languages, with most in English and Swahili. Click here to access the materials.

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13. Southern and Eastern Africa Region Male Circumcision Communication Meeting: A Joint UNAIDS & PEPFAR Coordinated Meeting, September 22-24, 2010

From the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), this report records the experience of the UNAIDS-PEPFAR Southern and Eastern Africa Region Male Circumcision (MC) Communication Meeting that brought together 117 health professionals from 14 countries in East and Southern Africa and international experts from Europe and North America. The meeting aimed to advance knowledge and to share promising experiences and communication materials for adolescent and adult MC in 3 key areas: demand creation, client counselling, and advocacy.

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C-Picks and SBCC

Please visit the C-Picks website for more resources and information about social and behaviour change communication (SBCC).

C-Picks continues to seek new knowledge and experiences in SBCC - case studies, strategic thinking, support materials, and other relevant documentation. Please contact cchange@comminit.com

FHI 360 has acquired the programmes, expertise, and assets of AED.

This publication is made possible by the support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the terms of Agreement No. GPO-A-00-07-00004-00. The contents are the responsibility of The Communication Initiative and the C-Change project and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.