Communication for development

These case studies offer valuable insights into the application of human-centered design to enhance vaccination rates in zero-dose communities in Nepal, the COVID-19 vaccine rollout in Ghana, and Ethiopia's efforts to address behavioral challenges related to COVID-19 and increase vaccination uptake in zero-dose communities. Each story showcases…

In more than 190 countries and territories, UNICEF reaches children with the nutrition, health care, protection and education they need to be healthy and happy. But improving the availability of services doesn’t automatically improve the well-being of families. For various reasons, caregivers may struggle to benefit from services meant to help…, What is social and behaviour change?, Various factors that shape the ways we interact with our world also influence how we navigate choice. These factors may be social, like the norms that fuel discrimination or drive parents to comply with harmful practices . They may be psychological, like patterns of thinking that determine what we perceive to be desirable. And too often – for…, Our work in social and behaviour change, UNICEF actively engages with communities worldwide to strengthen the role they play in creating the societies they want. With the largest institutional workforce in the field, UNICEF has been a leader in social and behaviour change for over 35 years. Our work blends traditional and emerging approaches. While communication and community engagement…, Education, Education transforms societies.   It gives children the knowledge and skills they need to shape their future. It provides stability, structure and – especially for children growing up through conflict and violence – a sense of protection. Education plays a critical role in challenging harmful social and gender norms.  But worldwide, millions of…, Child protection, Millions of children who suffer abuse, exploitation and even violence do so at the hands of adults meant to protect them. In some places, extreme forms of discipline at home or in school are considered acceptable. In others, harmful practices like child marriage and female genital mutilation are seen as a way to safeguard a girl’s future. UNICEF…, Nutrition, Good nutrition is a fundamental human right. But today, nearly a third of the world’s children under 5 are affected by malnutrition in its most visible forms – they’re undernourished (resulting in “stunting” or “wasting”) or overweight. Less visible forms of malnutrition, such as hidden hunger, occur when children become deficient in vitamins and…, Health, Millions of women and children die every year from preventable causes. Many don’t have access to quality health care, including for their mental health and psychosocial well-being. Others may not know the risk or severity of diseases they face, leading them to prioritize other urgent needs. UNICEF works worldwide to support the delivery of quality…, Immunization, Vaccines are among the greatest advances in global health and development. For more than two hundred years, they’ve safely reduced the scourge of diseases like polio, measles and smallpox, helping children grow up healthy and happy. Despite longstanding benefits, immunization levels continue to be too low. Millions of children miss out on life-…, Humanitarian emergencies, Every year, UNICEF responds to more humanitarian emergencies than nearly any organization on the planet. When conflict or climate-related disaster strikes, UNICEF staff are on the ground, delivering life-saving aid to children and their families. There’s nothing more crucial to humanitarian operations than being prepared. UNICEF uses evidence from…, Straight from the experts

Communication for Development (C4D) is one of the core change strategies that contribute directly to the achievement of results within each of the goal areas of the UNICEF Strategic Plan, 2018–2021. By identifying and addressing social norms, behaviours and practices, C4D strengthens programming and improves outcomes for children and adolescents.…, Communication for Development (C4D) is an evidence-based and participatory process that facilitates the engagement of children, families, communities, the public and decision makers in both development and humanitarian contexts through a mix of available communication platforms and tools. UNICEF promotes and applies C4D to drive positive…, Results, The most typical and also the most powerful way to work towards fulfilling children’s rights is in partnership – with governments, other United Nations agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), communities and families. Just as UNICEF does not stand alone, neither does Communication for Development.   Results stem from the collaboration of…, Two of the many important tools in the C4D toolbox, Screenshot of UNICEF's U-Report website UNICEF/2020 U-Report U-Report is a platform accessible by phone and computer which engages users via alerts, surveys and one-on-one chats. It is designed to address multiple issues affecting children, young people and communities by directly providing life-saving or changing information to them in a timely…, Generating demand for, and use of, services, Demand generation is the process of creating a need, or belief in the need, for a product or service among a particular target audience. C4D strategies stimulate or accelerate demand for services in a number of ways, including reducing stigma, developing gender-sensitive communication, and mass mobilization. Three girls in a refugee camp holding…, Adoption of key parenting and family practices, While children and their caregivers must demand, have access to and use services for their well-being, essential healthy and protective caregiving and family practices are equally important. These practices are not dependent on services, but have an almost exclusive behavioural component. Evidence has shown that these are critical to child…, Promoting positive parenting, Fostering fathers’ participation, particularly from the antenatal phase through early childhood, is an important area of work for UNICEF. More than half of children aged between 3 and 4 years old in 74 countries have fathers who do not play or engage in early learning activities with them (55 per cent, approximately 40 million). Social norms,…, Abandonment of harmful social norms or adoption of positive ones, By reinforcing positive norms that protect children, or encouraging the abandonment of social norms that condone or facilitate negative behaviours, C4D activities encourage parents, families and societies to change both behaviours and perceptions of what is socially acceptable, as well as encouraging agency in identifying and demanding related…, Promoting Positive Gender Socialization, In Egypt, girls face gender disparities and a high prevalence of harmful practices such as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). In 2019, UNICEF supported the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood to design and implement the first national girls’ empowerment initiative, “Dawwie” (meaning “loud voice with an impact”).  A group of girls standing…, Engaging and empowering communities, adolescents and children, C4D strategies seek to engage and empower communities and young people, particularly the most marginalized, to enable them as agents of change in both development and humanitarian contexts. This includes efforts to systematize mechanisms for engagement to improve their health and well-being, to hold service providers and policymakers to account…, Strategic partnerships with faith leaders to facilitate community engagement, UNICEF has led a scaling up of the Faith and Positive Change for Children (FPCC) Global Initiative on Social and Behaviour Change. In the Niger, one of the five early adopters of FPCC, the commitment of communities, religious and traditional leaders have been essential to reducing and eliminating traditional practices that constitute violence…, System strengthening and regional efforts to effect change at scale, Under the guidance of regional offices, initiatives are carried out to generate multi-country behavioural evidence and to provide technical support for the development of conceptual frameworks, strategies and guidance. The following provide examples of results from three regions; examples from the other regions and at the global level can be found…, Looking forward, The outbreak of COVID-19 was first reported at the end of 2019, and had become a pandemic by early March 2020. At the time of writing, it has become clear that the global crisis will have a significant and severe impact on children. Basic services from health to education have been disrupted, and the wider socioeconomic impacts are yet to be…, Communication for Development (C4D)Advancing positive social and behaviour change Global Annual Results Reports 2019 SUPPLEMENT TO THE Cover image: UNICEF/UN0212225/Noorani A mother and father hold their newborn in a recovery room at UNICEF supported Al Quseya Central Hospital, Assuit governorate, Egypt. C4D initiatives in Egypt encourage…

This publication is part of a package of evidence and tools that includes: a systematic review of Communication for Development (C4D) interventions to address violence against children (VAC), an evidence review of randomized controlled trials, technical guidance for C4D programmes addressing VAC, and training materials related to the Guidance.…

On 1 August, the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo announced a new Ebola virus outbreak in the North Kivu region of the country. As of 16 September, there have been over 140 reported cases. Children represent an unusually high proportion of people affected by the outbreak – and not just those who have contracted the virus. Many…

When Ebola hit Guinea in 2014, the country faced many challenges to stop the spread of the virus, including a widespread rural population and numerous local languages. Learn how building a network of rural radio stations helped overcome these barriers of communication, creating valuable tools for rural communities that are still being used today…