Elevating Social and Behavior Change as an Essential Component of Family Planning Programs

Citing “no product, no program,” family planning (FP) interventions have traditionally focused on delivering commodities. But ensuring long-term uptake means addressing behavioral and cultural attitudes and practices regarding FP. While social and behavior change (SBC) plays an essential role—backed by almost 50 years of data—it is often underutilized. In a newly-published commentary in Studies in Family Planning, USAID and Breakthrough ACTION make a clear case and a clarion call for more intentionally integrating and funding proven SBC approaches into FP programs. The data outlined in this commentary serves as a cornerstone for advocacy efforts to help increase SBC in FP programs.

Last modified: March 17, 2026

Language: English

Communication Plan to Combat Antimicrobial Resistance in Côte d’Ivoire

This communication plan helps optimize the coordination of interventions and develop more appropriate communication strategies as part of the fight against antimicrobial resistance in Côte d’Ivoire. The document was developed under the leadership of the Antimicrobial Resistance Technical Working Group, with support from Breakthrough ACTION and USAID.

Plan de communication pour la lutte contre la résistance aux anti-microbiens en Côte d’Ivoire

Ce document de plan de communication permet d’optimiser la coordination des interventions et de développer des stratégies de communication plus appropriées, dans le cadre de la lutte contre la résistance aux antimicrobiens en Côte d’Ivoire. Ce document a été élaboré sous le leadership du Groupe de Travail Technique sur la Résistance aux Antimicrobiens, avec l’appui de Breakthrough ACTION et de l’USAID.

Last modified: March 16, 2026

Language: English, French

Using SBC to Enhance Programs to End Child, Early, and Forced Marriage

Child, early and forced marriage (CEFM), defined as marriage before age 18 or marriage that occurs without the consent of those in the marriage, affects an estimated 15 million girls each year.

CEFM is perpetuated by many factors, including but not limited to poverty, conflict, gender inequality, social and cultural norms, religious beliefs, and economic incentives. Looking forward, efforts to reduce the number of girls at risk for CEFM will increasingly struggle to keep pace with population growth; leading to virtually the same number of girls at risk for CEFM within the next few decades if actions to end CEFM are not accelerated.

This series of briefs proposes social and behavior change (SBC) approaches to strenghten the collective effort to reduce CEFM.

There are seven briefs in the series that focus on:

  1. Advanced Audience Segmentation: By learning more about your audience and segmenting them into smaller groups you can better target your interventions and influence behavior change to end CEFM.
  2. Collective Action: By bringing together members of a community to discuss CEFM and envision a different future for their community, progress can be made at a larger scale and with greater chance of lasting change.
  3. Gender Synchronization: When designing a gender synchronized approach for CEFM, you should consider the needs of all genders and address the power imbalances that often exist in communities.
  4. Human-Centered Design: Human-centered design can help you discover new approaches that put empathy at the core and ensure the community leads the design of programming.
  5. Social Norms programming: Different social norms are often contributing factors in the persistence of CEFM in communities. By designing norms-shifting interventions, you can begin to tackle these long-standing influencers.
  6. Theories: Using theories can help you to develop effective programs to reduce CEFM. Theories can provide a framework to build your program around to lead to behavior change.
  7. Youth Engagements: By engaging youth in CEFM programing from design through to evaluation, and including activities to strengthen youth’s agency, you can increase the sustainability and impact of your program.

Each brief was developed from analyzing successful interventions conducted all over the world. Interventions and programs that are creative, multi-faceted, and innovative will be required in order to address the factors contributing to the prevalence and impact of CEFM.

Last modified: March 16, 2026

Language: English

Social and Behavior Change Monitoring Guidance

Breakthrough ACTION has distilled guidance on social and behavior change (SBC) monitoring methods into a collection of technical notes. Each note provides an overview of a monitoring method that may be used for SBC programs along with a description of when to use the method and its strengths and weaknesses.

Last modified: March 16, 2026

Language: English

Resources for Social and Behavior Change Advocacy in Family Planning

Do you need to pitch social and behavior change (SBC) approaches to family planning donors, governments, or program managers?

Breakthrough ACTION has developed two short animations and accompanying briefs with compelling examples showing that investment in SBC is critical to meeting global- and country-level family planning goals.

These materials highlight evidence from Nigeria, Rwanda, Indonesia, Zambia, and several OP countries that demonstrates:

  • SBC improves family planning outcomes.
  • SBC complements service delivery.
  • SBC generates a high return on investment.

ENGLISH

Advancing progress in family planning: The impact of social and behavior change [YouTube]

Using Social & Behavior Change to Improve Family Planning Outcomes [PDF]

EN FRANÇAIS

Accélérer les progrès en planification familiale: L’impact du CSC [YouTube]

Utilisation du CSC pour améliorer le bilan du planning familial en Afrique de l’Ouest [PDF]

Last modified: March 16, 2026

Language: English

HIPs Implementation Tools Project

Launched in 2022, the HIPs Implementation Tools project aims to compile crucial resources for FP/RH practitioners, that provide guidance on effectively implementing and expanding the Family Planning High Impact Practices (HIPs). Responding to the growing need for resources that not only explain the effectiveness of the family planning HIPs, but that also offer practical guidance on implementing and scaling up these practices, the project collaborated in 2023 with FP/RH technical experts and implementers. Together, they published an initial set of resource collections focused on implementing and scaling up 7 selected Service Delivery and Social and Behavior Change HIPs. In October 2024, with additional expert support, the project released a new set of resource collections covering 8 additional family planning HIPs and HIP enhancements. Within each collection, viewers can find accessible knowledge products designed to help FP/RH professionals strengthen the implementation and scale-up of these HIPs in their programming. (Un petit nombre de ressources et d’études de cas sont disponibles en français pour chaque dossier.)

Source: Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs

Date of Publication: November 15, 2024

Strategic Selection of Malaria Social and Behavior Change Activities Using results from the Malaria Behavior Survey

This guidance includes practical instructions on how to use results from the Malaria Behavior Survey (MBS) to inform data-driven aspects of developing national malaria SBC strategies and the strategic selection of audiences, activities, and other aspects of SBC programs. Because the MBS delves into the factors associated with malaria-related behaviors, its findings equip program planners with evidence for making strategic decisions for SBC strategies and programs and thus help to justify SBC investments by malaria programs.

Last modified: September 23, 2024

Language: English

Source: Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs

Year of Publication: 2024

Risk Communication Plan for the first case of Ebola

This document describes possible risk communication activities supporting the public announcement of a possible first case of Ebola diagnosed in your country.

Last modified: August 5, 2024

Language: English

Source: Pan American Health Organization

Year of Publication: 2014

Évaluation externe conjointe des principales capacités RSI de la Guinée

L’Organisation mondiale de la Santé (OMS) a élaboré un processus de suivi-évaluation de la mise en œuvre des principales capacités demandées par le RSI (2005). Ce processus est composé de quatre activités principales : (1) les rapports annuels à rapporter à l’Assemblée mondiale de la Santé, (2) l’évaluation externe conjointe (EEC), (3) les revues après action (RAA) et (4) les exercices de simulation.

L’outil d’évaluation externe conjointe (EEC) mesure l’aptitude du pays à prévenir, détecter et répondre rapidement aux menaces de santé publique, qui résultent d’événements naturels, accidentels ou délibérément provoqués, selon les exigences du RSI (2005). Au terme de ce processus d’évaluation, un plan d’action national multisectoriel devra être élaboré.

La mission d’évaluation externe conjointe de la mise en œuvre des principales capacités du Règlement sanitaire international (RSI 2005) s’est déroulée du 22 au 26 mai 2023 à Conakry, en Guinée. Elle a été conduite par quinze évaluateurs externes, en collaboration avec des experts nationaux, issus de diverses institutions et services impliqués dans la mise en œuvre du RSI (2005).

Les points focaux nationaux – couvrant les 19 domaines techniques du RSI, avec leurs 56 indicateurs – ont tour à tour présenté les résultats de leur autoévaluation devant un panel d’experts en la matière, à l’échelle nationale et internationale.

Les présentations de chaque domaine technique ont porté sur le niveau de mise en œuvre du RSI dans le pays, ainsi que sur le rôle des acteurs nationaux, tout en prenant en compte l’approche « Un monde, une santé ».

Un aperçu général des capacités du pays a été dressé, mettant en exergue à la fois les atouts, les faiblesses et les défis pour chaque domaine, permettant ainsi d’attribuer des scores pour chaque indicateur et de proposer des mesures prioritaires en vue de relever chaque défi identifié.


Joint external evaluation of Guinea’s key RSI capabilities

The World Health Organization (WHO) has established a process to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the key capabilities outlined by the International Health Regulations (IHR, 2005). This process includes four main activities: (1) annual reports to the World Health Assembly, (2) Joint External Evaluations (JEE), (3) after-action reviews (AAR), and (4) simulation exercises.

The Joint External Evaluation (JEE) tool assesses a country’s ability to prevent, detect, and respond rapidly to public health threats, whether they arise from natural, accidental, or deliberate events, as required by the IHR (2005). Upon completion of this evaluation, a comprehensive, multi-sectoral national action plan is developed.

From May 22 to 26, 2023, a JEE mission was conducted in Conakry, Guinea, to assess the implementation of the IHR (2005) core capacities. Fifteen external evaluators collaborated with national experts from various institutions and departments involved in the IHR (2005) implementation.

National focal points representing the IHR’s 19 technical areas and 56 indicators presented the results of their self-assessments to a panel of national and international experts. These presentations covered the level of IHR implementation in the country, highlighting the roles of national actors and incorporating the “One World, One Health” approach.

A comprehensive overview of the country’s capabilities was developed, outlining the strengths, weaknesses, and challenges in each area. This enabled the assignment of scores for each indicator and the proposal of priority measures to address the identified challenges.

Source: World Health Organization/Organisation mondiale de la Santé

Date of Publication: July 30, 2024

PLAN STRATEGIQUE UNE SEULE SANTE GUINEE [2019-2023]

Le Plan Stratégique Une Seule Santé Guinée (2019-2023) définit la mise en œuvre de l’approche One Health dans le pays. Cette stratégie collaborative s’appuie sur les liens entre la santé humaine, animale et environnementale pour mieux prévenir, détecter et riposter aux événements de santé publique. Le plan guide la Plateforme Une Seule Santé (PUSS) au niveau national, un groupe multisectoriel créé en 2017.

Développé à travers des consultations avec diverses parties prenantes, le plan décrit une stratégie quinquennale comportant cinq piliers clés : leadership et gouvernance, surveillance et alerte précoce, gestion des risques et préparation, riposte et contrôle, et communication et engagement. Ce document sert de feuille de route pour la PUSS et les autres organisations concernées travaillant sur Une Seule Santé (One Health) en Guinée. Le plan peut être revu et mis à jour selon les besoins pour s’adapter à l’évolution de la situation. “


The One Health Strategic Plan for Guinea (2019-2023)

The One Health Strategic Plan for Guinea (2019-2023) outlines how the country will implement the One Health approach. This collaborative strategy focuses on human, animal, and environmental health connections to better prevent, detect, and respond to public health events. The plan guides the National One Health Platform (OHP), a multi-sectorial group established in 2017.

Developed through consultations with various stakeholders, the plan outlines a five-year strategy with five key pillars: leadership and governance, surveillance and early warning, risk management and preparedness, response and control, and communication and engagement. This document serves as a roadmap for the OHP and other relevant organizations working on One Health in Guinea. The plan can be reviewed and updated as needed to adapt to changing circumstances.”

Source: REPUBLIQUE DE GUINEE

Date of Publication: July 30, 2024