DR Congo

Women make themselves heard at Family Planning conference in Kinshasa Dec 2009

C-Change is providing technical assistance and support for a broad range of USAID communication and capacity building activities in the DRC.

C-Change is leading efforts to reposition family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) as a priority. Other activities include developing and supporting radio dramas to increase use of FP/RH services and developing a dialogue guide for community health workers as they conduct conversations about FP/RH.
C-Change is engaged at national, provincial, and community levels on communication for malaria prevention and control, providing expert guidance on SBCC and building skills and capacity.
C-Change is developing and testing a comprehensive approach to reducing school-related gender-based violence among students ages 10–14 in Katanga Province, one that also engages teachers, school administrators, and community members
C-Change continues to build the SBCC capacity of partners who deliver services in family planning and reproductive health, maternal and child health, malaria, and TB.
C-Change is building the capacity of local staff on SBCC at Search for Common Ground and assisting them with incorporating behavior change messages around HIV prevention into several local radio and television programs..

Changing social and gender norms and reducing violence in schools in Katanga

School-Discipline-Officer-renounces-use-of-corporal-punishment

C-Change is developing, testing, and evaluating a comprehensive approach to promote positive social and gender norms to prevent and mitigate school-related, gender-based violence (SRGBV) among students ages 10–14 attending primary and secondary schools in Katanga Province. It is known that there are links between violence in the home, violence in the school and violence in the community. By focusing this initiative on the school environment in Katanga, the aim is to break this cycle and lessen the level of violence not just in the target schools, but in the communities at large.

Based on formative research, the C-Change project in DRC developed community media campaigns utilizing radio, television, educational comic books, and other community channels to create awareness of the issues related to SRGBV and youth. These messages focus on improving attitudes and behaviors that contribute to hostile environments for students.

Activities and interventions target students, school administrators, teachers, parents, and community members. A variety of approaches that encompass advocacy, community and social mobilization, and behavior change communication are being employed in the effort to change the social and gender norms that are alegacy of years of conflict and breakdown of societal norms.

SRGBV Oversight Groups that include administrators, parents and focal teachers have been formed and activities using the Safe Schools Program curriculum are taking place in the classroom, at student assemblies and gatherings, and through afterschool youth clubs.

To date, radio spots and in-depth radio shows on the "Rights of the Child, Positive Discipline, and Corporal Punishment" have been produced and broadcast. Also 6,000 copies of two editions of the SRGBV comic book series have been distributed throughout Katanga Province. Thirty teachers have received training as first responders for SRBGV and 127 teachers have been trained using the Safe Schools "Doorways III" module. In addition, 123 parents have been trained on the C-Change anti-SRGBV approach and youth clubs to counteract SRGBV have been established at the 31 target schools.

Incorporating HIV prevention messaging in popular TV and radio programs

TV screenshot from L'Equipe- a show on gender equality and HIV prevention C-Change is partnering with the Search for Common Ground (SFCG) and strengthening the social and behavior change communication capacity of its staff to further their work on HIV prevention. (SFCG has been working in DRC for more than 10 years and currently produces 12 radio and TV programs per week with 100 local partners.)

Specifically, C-Change is providing technical guidance on messaging and story lines for some of SFCG's popular TV and radio programs and working with their staff to incorporate messaging on HIV prevention. The programs include:

Duel des Jeunes Democrats (Duel of Young Democrats): This is a national radio game show that asks students from two secondary schools questions on a variety of topics. The school with the most correct answers wins. C-Change provides technical input and financial assistance to programs that focus on preventing HIV and other STIs and the importance of HIV testing and counseling.
Uishe na Upende (Live and Love): C-Change is pretesting HIV-prevention spots on topics of sexuality, gender, and relationships for youths, aged 15–25, to be aired during this weekly radio program in five languages: Swahili, French, Lingala, Kikongo, and Tshiluba.
Jirani ni Ndugu (My Neighbor is my Brother): C-Change is incorporating messaging on the dangers of stigma and misinformation about HIV into this popular radio drama series on post-conflict situations.
L’Equipe (The Team): C-Change is providing training, equipment and financing for a TV drama about a female soccer team that deals with issues of gender equality and HIV prevention.
Tosalel’ango (Let’s Do It!): This reality TV program focuses on participants who take on challenges in their communities. C-Change is providing technical and script assistance to issues such as reducing discrimination against people living with HIV.

Malaria prevention and control

PMI launchs DRC as 16th focus country-November 2010

C-Change is supporting the coordination and implementation of the national malaria SBCC strategy by providing expert counsel for the National Malaria Control Program (PNLP) and working groups at national and provincial levels, and by supporting the development of integrated workplans and cross-partner collaboration in four provinces: East Kasai, West Kasai, South Kivu, and Katanga.

C-Change is also facilitating revision of current communication materials on malaria prevention and control to ensure consistency with the national policy and current best practices, as well as drafting background papers and FAQs that support improved awareness, high-level political commitment, and accurate, timely coverage of malaria events, projects, and activities.

C-Change is developing a technical support and capacity building program in SBCC to enhance the skills of officials in the National Malaria Control Program, provincial-level coordinators and coordination officers, and community relais. In addition, C-Change is training trainers to provide follow-on mentorship and sustained technical assistance.

Recently, C-Change led the public relations efforts and logistics for the launch of the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) in the DRC. In mid-November 2010, U.S. Global Malaria Coordinator Rear Admiral Timothy Ziemer travelled to Mbuji-Mayi, capital of Kasai East Province, for the kick-off ceremony that marked the DRC’s new status as the PMI’s 16th focus country.

Building SBCC Capacity at the University of Kinshasa

Dr. Yaya Drabo, Chief of Party for C-Change/DRC, conducted a week-long SBCC training in February 2011 for 40 graduate students at the University of Kinshasa’s School of Public Health. Drabo co-taught the seminar with Professor Piripiri Lina Mvumbi, who manages health programs at USAID/DRC.

Using the C-Modules curriculum, Drabo guided students in development of creative briefs to inform message development for a health campaign and then led students through the process of pretesting their messages. Learning by doing, the students also enjoyed the opportunity to hear Dr. Drabo share his years of health communication experience in many countries across a range of health issues, including family planning, maternal and child health, and immunization.

Family planning and reproductive health

C-Change Leading Efforts to Reposition Family Planning

First Lady Marie Kabila address FP conference in Kinshasa in Dec 2009 C-Change is mobilizing stakeholders, partners, and the government to reposition family planning policy and programming in DRC as a priority. A national FP meeting was held in the DRC in December 2009. The goal was to expand FP/RH efforts and create a cross-sectoral forum of government, donor agencies, and civil society to take forward efforts to elevate FP programming and policy and garner resources to do so.

According to the 2007 Demographic Health Survey, about 58% of all women in union in the country want to space the next birth or have no more births. However, only 6.5% use a modern contraceptive method, whereas 16% did in 1990.

Training Community Health Workers (Relais) to use the FP Dialogue Guide

A community relais uses skills learned during training on the FP Conversation Tool C-Change trained 3,000 relais communautaire (community health volunteers) in the provinces of East Kasai, West Kasai, and Katanga to use the Family Planning Dialogue Guide developed by the project. These outreach workers between health centers and communities use the guide during home visits or group discussions to conduct conversations about important FP/RH issues, such as spacing of pregnancies for the health of mothers and children, the importance of visiting health clinics for FP/RH counseling and antenatal care, and the use and benefits of modern contraceptives: the pill, condoms, and injectables.

The Family Planning Dialogue Guide is available by download in French and English. It has been approved for national use by the DRC's Ministry of Health.

Increasing FP Use and Building the SBCC Capacity of Local Radio Stations

C-Change developed a four-part radio drama series to increase the number of women and men who participate in FP counseling in 10 pilot zones of four provinces: Kasai East, Kasai West, South Kivu, and Katanga. In local languages used in the four provinces, the scripts address the use of modern contraceptives and the importance of increasing birth spacing to improve the health of children and mothers. "For a healthy and prosperous family, practice family planning” is the campaign's overriding message.

community radio broadcasts family planning dramas Radio was selected because it appeals to cultures with oral traditions and is a cost-effective way to reach people with information pertinent to their health needs, especially those living in remote areas and lacking reading skills.

The radio scripts were developed by C-Change partner CARE, based on formative assessments by C-Change and two USAID partner projects, AXxes and Leadership, Management and Sustainability (LMS), who created the community radio network carrying the drama series. Local theater groups are presenting the same dramas in communities where there is no radio access.

C-Change has built the capacity of AXxes and LMS to involve community radios in their SBCC activities. C-Change, AXxes, and LMS met with community radio managers in the 10 pilot health zones to discuss how to improve radio coverage of family planning and other health issues, C-Change also provided the stations with solar panels, tape recorders, and cassettes to improve their broadcast capacity.

Technical assistance in SBCC

C-Change is supporting health service delivery projects to help mobilize community participation and utilization of health services for family planning and reproductive health, maternal and child health, malaria, and tuberculosis.

Two large projects, Leadership Management and Sustainability (LMS) and Project AXxes, have rebuilt health clinics, trained health providers, and ensureed availability of health care commodities. C-Change provided technical assistance and capacity strengthening in SBCC to these service delivery partners in four areas in the eastern part of the country in 2008-09. Activities include designing a community participation strategy to increase use of services and improve the health status of communities they serve.