REPORT OF UNICEF/NOA WORKSHOP ATTENDED BY CDCF.

National Orientation Agency (NOA), Oyo State in response to the request to collaborate with Child Protection Network (CPN) Oyo State Chapter in the implementation of child related projects thereby considered CPN for the training program on Demand Generation and Community Engagement Strategies for Result Based Programming for Women and Children in Oyo State.

National Orientation Agency (NOA), Oyo State in collaboration with UNICEF on Wednesday, 28th July, 2021 hosted CSOs and COMOs on a day workshop held at Kakanfo Inn, Joyce B Ring Road, Ibadan. CPN, a coalition of NGOs have its member organizations invited to participate in the workshop. Child Development and Concern Foundation (CDCF), a member organization of CPN participated in the program.

The focus of the workshop was to educate the participants on Demand Generation and Community Engagement Strategies for Result based Programming for Women and Children.

The objective of the programme is to know how to carry out community based sensitization in an innovative way that is result oriented.

Introduction to UNICEF

UNICEF was said to have been founded on 11th of December, 1946 after the World War II. Its thematic areas were highlighted as Child Protection, Child Development, Child Participation and Child Survival. All these areas covered all issues of concerns to children.  Its core values were said to be put in Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability (CRITA).

Understanding Sexual Exploitation and Abuse

The facilitator explained the following concepts:

• Gender and Sex: Gender and Sex are not same thing. Sex refers to the physical or biological differences between males and females while Gender is determined by culture and society.
• Gender Based Violence (GBV): refers to misuse of power over another person as it relates to male and female. Power can be both real and perceived depending on the individuals. GBV is an umbrella term for any harmful act. GBV is widespread in all contexts and is exacerbated in the context of complex emergencies (crisis settings) and natural disasters. Persons at risk of GBV include; women, children, adolescents, men, boys and other vulnerable groups like People With Disabilities (PWD).
• Violence: is any act that causes harm and it involves the use of force either real or imagined.
• Consent: means saying “Yes”.

Engaging Communities for Social and Behavioral Change

The facilitator stressed the importance of community participation in community projects. It was said, behavioral and social change is best achieved through community engagement. However, CSOs and COMOs would need to work on how to engage their communities towards development. Peoples Attitude to Immunization, Exclusive Breastfeeding Culture, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), Early Initiation of Children, Early Marriage Culture, Hand Washing, Open Defecation among others were some of the areas highlighted by the facilitator where CSOs need to focus on for behavioral and social change  in our communities.

Reach for Action

Orbit of Influence using the socio-ecological model is one of the models needed to reach our communities for positive development. The Reach for Development can be at the individual level, interpersonal level, organizational level, community level and public policy.

Some barriers to Reach for Development

Psychological barriers: such as fear, habit, illiteracy and lack of motivation.

• Socio-cultural barriers: such as norms, value systems, belief systems, customs and traditions.
• Environmental barriers: such as lack of enabling environment.
• Economic barriers: such as earning power and quest for survival.
• Religious barriers: such as doctrines and religious beliefs.
• Institutional barriers: such as lack of policies, weak systems and lack of ownership

The following were identified as ways through which Reach for Development can be carried out:

• Interpersonal Communication: that is, person -to- person discussion, peer discussion among others.
• Community Engagement: that is, Focus Group Discussions (FGD), Community Dialogue, Village Square Meeting among others.
•  Social Mobilization: that is, village square meeting, community sensitization and social awareness.
•  Social Marketing: that is, developing skills to create and manage advertising campaigns on social media.
• Others include Social Media, Edutainment, Mass Media, Advocacy etc.

 

How to develop an action plan when carrying out a survey using the P-Process;

• You must inquire about the target audience
• Then design a strategy to reach your audience
• Create key messages of discussion or communication
• Mobilize your audience using their structure.
• Evaluate the viability of your outcome.

Development Messages: What to do;

• Review: i.e rapid need assessment.
• Develop Map: i.e audience analysis
• Design Message: i.e segmentation
• Develop message profiling
• Link message to materials

Employ the 7Cs of communication

They are Command attention, Clarify message; Communicate the benefit, Consistency counts, Create trust, Cater for the head and heart and Call to action.

Methods of Message Pre-testing

They are direct questioning, focus group, port folio test, paired comparison test, order-of-merit test, mark magazine test, perpetual meaning studies, direct mail test and physiological testing.

Identifying and Engaging Influencers at Grassroot Level for Result Based Programming.

Influencers were said to be prominent people, groups or institutions within a community, people who have high level of impact control on the behavior and action of other people.

Characteristics of Influencers include, Availability, Audience, Acceptance, Authenticity and Attention

Categories of Influencers;

• Gate keepers: e.g Individuals in the community.
• Key informants: e.g Community leaders
• Formal Gate Keepers: e.g Religious leaders, Political leaders, Traditional leaders among others.
• Informal Gate Keepers: Head of households.