Kuwa Mjanja Project, Tanzania

Kuwa Mjanja (“Be Smart”) is a girl-powered call to action that seeks to reframe the narrative about girls, and contraception, in Tanzania. It delivers entrepreneurial skills and contraceptive counseling sessions— tailored to and branded for the unique needs of the girls we serve. Across disciplines and in partnership with girls, Kuwa Mjanja supports girls aged 15-19 to explore the role contraception plays in helping them achieve their life dreams, today. The project is managed by FHI360.

As a brand, Kuwa Mjanja is a living embodiment of respect, fun and youthfulness. Girls redefined “Kuwa Mjanja” (Be Smart). The traditional Swahili phrase was used as a euphemism for”being clean” (in reference to menstrual hygiene) and “staying away from boys.” Blending delightful branding with a redefined message, Kuwa Mjanja is disrupting the status quo, with girls driving ship.

Project materials here.

Source: FHI360

Date of Publication: July 19, 2021

The Reality of Intersectional Factors in Gender Inequality

In 2017, Islamic Relief Worldwide piloted protective and inclusive programming in six countries. For the pilots, the humanitarian organization created several tools, including an intersectionality framework to help understand gender identities, their social positions and immediate and strategic impacts.

To identify the women at risk of exclusion, Islamic Relief started using a model based on a gender analysis of power and influence.

The model analyzes the underlying power structures that define public discourse; as everybody carries multiple identities, there is a tendency not to immediately spot factors that render women most liable to discrimination.

Source: European Union Capacity for Development

Date of Publication: July 19, 2021

Catalyzing the Commercial Market for LLINs in Ghana: A Market Analysis

Finding sustainable ways to maintain access to long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLINs) is essential to maintaining gains in malaria prevention in Ghana. The commercial market is an important channel for sustained access to LLINs.

With the aim of catalyzing the LLIN market, the U.K. Department for International Development-funded Private Sector Malaria Prevention (PSMP) project commissioned this market analysis. This study was designed to gain insights into the existing commercial market for LLINs, identify opportunities to increase customer demand for LLINs from the retail market, and get private sector players manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, and retailers to participate in the LLIN value chain.

The market analysis study was conducted from March to December 2017 in the Ashanti, Greater Accra, and Western regions of Ghana, using a combination of qualitative (focus groups, a human-centered design study, and key informant interviews) and quantitative (discrete choice experiments, household surveys, and retail audits) approaches.

Source: Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs

Date of Publication: July 15, 2021

Country Focus

Welcome to the Compass Country Focus Pages.

Use the table below:

  • COLUMN 1: Click on a country name listed below to see an overview of social and behavior change (SBC) projects in that country. Those pages then offer links to more detailed descriptions of each specific project.
  • COLUMN 2: Find all materials from selected countries

(Don’t see the country you’re interested in?*)

1. Countries with project detail2. Selected Countries – All Materials
Côte d’IvoireBangladesh
EthiopiaBenin
GhanaBolivia
MalawiBotswana
MaliBrazil
NepalBurkina Faso
NigeriaCameroon
PakistanCongo, Democratic Republic
TanzaniaCote d’Ivoire
UgandaEcuador
ZambiaEgypt
Eswatini
Gambia
Ghana
Guatemala
Guinea
Guyana
Haiti
India
Indonesia
Jamaica
Jordan
Kenya
Liberia
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Mali
Mauritius
Mexico
Mozambique
Namibia
Nepal
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
Pakistan
Peru
Philippines
Rwanda
Senegal
Sierra Leone
South Africa
Tanzania
Thailand
Turkey
Uganda
Ukraine
United Kingdom
United States
Vietnam
Zambia
Zimbabwe

*If you don’t find the country you’re interested in, use the Search bar you can find on any page and just enter the name of the country.

Source: Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs

Date of Publication: July 6, 2021

Engaging Girls with Kuwa Mjanja

This presentation offers an overview of the Kuwa Mjanja campaign in Tanzania, managed by FHI360, which delivers entrepreneurial skills and contraceptive counseling sessions— tailored to and branded for the unique needs of girls. Across disciplines and in partnership with girls, Kuwa Mjanja supports girls aged 15-19 to explore the role contraception plays in helping them achieve their life dreams.

The key program elements were:

  • Branding
  • Messaging
  • Demand Creation
  • Sustained Engagement
  • Learning Experiences
  • Girl-centered Service Delivery

Source: FHI360

Date of Publication: June 29, 2021

Improving Provider Behavior Change Communication and IPC

During implementation of its Women’s Health Project, Population Services International (PSI) identified several challenges relating to provider behavior relating to IUDs.

These challenges resulted in lower performance by network providers and lower productivity among IPC agents.

They included:

  • Lack of provider motivation to insert LARCs because of low profit generated, and time involved in counseling and insertion
  • Lack of provider confidence and practice in insertion skills due to low number of IUDs inserted each month
  • Low productivity among IPC agents with lower rates of IUD referrals resulting in IUD service provision; inefficient IPC mobilization strategies linked to coordination gaps between providers and IPC agents, low motivation among IPC agents and insufficient IPC supportive supervision

This brief discusses the strategies for improving provider behavior change and the lessons learned through this process.

Source: Population Services International

Date of Publication: June 29, 2021

Mjanja Connect, Tanzania

Mjanja Connect is a technology platform in Tanzania that leverages FHI’s A360 program investments and insights, in order to increase the number of adolescent girls successfully referred for Family Planning Services by Community Health Educators (primarily) through the WHP program infrastructure.

It has three components:

  • A tablet based job aid for improving behavior change communication
  • A mobile system for referring, tracking, and supporting clients to FP services and beyond
  • A mobile system for gathering client feedback on providers and services

It uses two integrated system- Mjanja Connect Counseling App Girl-centric & personalized counseling, and Connecting with Sara (CwS) referral tracking and redemption.

Project materials here

Source: USAID, FHI360

Date of Publication: June 29, 2021

Suaahara Nepal Project

Suaahara was an integrated nutrition project (2011-2016) that worked in 41 underserved districts in Nepal to improve the health and well-being of the Nepali people by focusing on the nutritional status of women and children under the age of two years. CCP partnered with Save the Children; Helen Keller International; Jhpiego; Nepali Technical Assistance Group; Nepal Water for Health; and the Nutrition Promotion and Consultancy Service.

Suaahara means good nutrition, or “a good balanced diet is the strong foundation protecting our lives.” As part of the implementing team, CCP supported strategic social and behavior change communication initiatives that build on this message and model behavior change to lead to improved maternal, infant and child nutrition.

In close coordination with Nepal government, the team created Bhanchhin Aama (Mother knows best), which served as the basis for a campaign for mass and community media. Bhanchhin Aama is a trusted, knowledgeable friendly mother-in-law character who models and promotes positive behavior change.

Project products included:

Source: Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs

Date of Publication: June 29, 2021

Assessing Current Practices and Behavioral Determinants of Health Outcomes among Women in Northwestern Nigeria

These infographics draw on data and a programmatic research brief from the first phase of a Breakthrough RESEARCH behavioral sentinel surveillance (BSS) survey that has been completed in northwestern Nigeria.

The BSS rigorously assessed current practices and behavioral determinants of health outcomes over the lifespan of the Breakthrough ACTION integrated social and behavior change (SBC) project in Nigeria. Each of the sets of Breakthrough RESEARCH infographics map out three important factors for each of the following topics:

  • Improving women’s attendance of four or more antenatal visits during pregnancy
  • Increasing modern contraceptive use
  • Improving care seeking from a formal medical provider for children with fever

Each infographic focuses on data from one of three states in northwestern Nigeria, Kebbi, Sokoto, and Zamfara, and are available in English and Hausa.

For more information contact Kathryn Spielman, kspielman@popcouncil.org

Source: Breakthrough RESEARCH/Population Council

Date of Publication: June 18, 2021

How Can Social and Behavior Change Programming Improve Reproductive Health and Family Planning Behaviors of Out-of-School Youth in the Philipppines?  

This factsheet shares results from a targeted study to better understand which social and behavior change programming approaches are most effective for encouraging out-of-school youth ages 15 to 19 to adopt priority reproductive health and family planning behaviors.

The study was conducted among out-of-school youth in four urban regions of the Philippines: Manila, Quezon City, Cebu City, and Davao City.

For more information contact Ashish Bajracharya, abarjracharya@popcouncil.org

Source: Breakthrough RESEARCH/Population Council, De La Salle University

Date of Publication: June 18, 2021