1. Situation Analysis: Programme Communication in West & Central Africa Neil Ford Regional Chief, Programme Communication West and Central Africa Dakar: 8 th April, 2008

2. 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

3. Situation Analysis: Programme Communication in WCAR: 08 April 2008 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

4. Situation Analysis: Programme Communication in WCAR: 08 April 2008 Group Work How do we organize long-term, large- scale communication for CSD: 1.At household and interpersonal level 2.With community-based media 3.With national / large-scale media 4.In partnership with private-sector campaigns 5.With institutions and academia

5. Situation Analysis: Programme Communication in WCAR: 08 April 2008 Organizing means: Planning Coordinating Forming Partnerships Funding Ensuring government ownership How do we start – immediate next steps?

6. Situation Analysis: Programme Communication in WCAR: 08 April 2008 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

7. Situation Analysis: Programme Communication in WCAR: 08 April 2008 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

8. Situation Analysis: Programme Communication in WCAR: 08 April 2008 RMT: November 2006 RMT 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)

9. Situation Analysis: Programme Communication in WCAR: 08 April 2008 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

10. Situation Analysis: Programme Communication in WCAR: 08 April 2008 Who is a PC officer? (global data, 2006, n=206) Human Resource Capacity for Programme Communication

11. Situation Analysis: Programme Communication in WCAR: 08 April 2008 Level of Posts (global data, 2006, n=206) 60% of ALL posts at NOB & NOC levels, 78% of these are FT posts Most TFT posts at NOB level

12. Situation Analysis: Programme Communication in WCAR: 08 April 2008 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.

13. Situation Analysis: Programme Communication in WCAR: 08 April 2008 Profile : the new C4D specialist Professional 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

14. Situation Analysis: Programme Communication in WCAR: 08 April 2008 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