AfriComNet Holds Third Uganda Learning Forum on Designing Effective SBCC Campaigns

Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) is a process and not an event. This was the key message at the third Uganda Learning forum held on May 14, 2015, at the Golf Course Hotel in Uganda.

Organized by AfriComNet and the Communication for Health Communities (CHC) project, the forum focused on the theme “How to Design and Implement Effective Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) Campaigns.”  

“Good SBCC requires use of tested and proven methods, tools and guidelines, and strategy is where everything begins. Your campaign has to move through all the five steps of the communication planning process and needs to be based on research/evidence, tailored to the needs of a particular audience, based on clear objectives and expected outcomes and should be measured based on set indicators,” said Amos Zikusooka, CHC’s Senior Technical Advisor, while delivering a presentation with examples from the OBULAMU campaign.

OBULAMU is a national communication campaign premised on the interactive nature of Uganda communities where asking ‘how is life’ (Obulamu?) is part of greeting. The campaign is informed by evidence from formative research that showed health is not the number-one priority for most Ugandans – but rather survival and income.

It is designed to help reduce high national rates of HIV infection, total fertility, maternal and child mortality, malnutrition, malaria and tuberculosis (TB).

Co-presenting on the topic was Adris Kamuli, the Creative Director at MADD Advertising, who emphasized that the ad agency’s job begins with a creative brief. “It is the guidepost for creative deliverables and guides us in the development of messages and materials that fit within the campaign’s overall strategic approach,” he noted.

The forum was attended by over 70 SBCC practitioners from health communication organizations, the Ministry of Health, UNFPA, health journalists, lecturers, communication students and lecturers, and social marketers.

This forum and previous ones were jointly organized by AfriComNet and CHC as part of in-country efforts to foster learning and networking among the health and development communication community and is part of springboard activities that AfriComNet is supporting with communication partners in various countries in Africa.