Glossary

 

Preliminary Glossary Terms:

 

1. Advocacy

 

“Advocacy is an organized effort to inform and motivate leadership to create an enabling environment for achiev­ing program objectives and development goals. The purpose for advocacy is (1) to promote the development of new policies, change existing governmental or organiza­tional laws, policies or rules, and/or ensure the adequate implementation of existing policies, (2) to redefine pub­lic perceptions, social norms and procedures, (3) to sup­port protocols that benefit specific populations affected by existing legislation, norms and procedures, and/or (4) to influence funding decisions and equitable allocation of resources for specific initiatives.”

 

Target Audiences:

 

• Policymakers and decision-makers

• Program planners and implementers

• Media/journalists

• Community leaders, including religious leaders

 

2. Social Mobilization

 

“Social mobilization is a process to engage a wide range of traditional, community, civil society and opinion leaders around a common cause or issue. Expanding beyond community engagement as a focus, social mobilization reaches out to non-governmental organisations, professional groups/networks, youth groups, women’s groups, community-based organisations, faith-based organisations, professional networks and the private sector to catalyse these different groups to take action and/or support change a common cause (e.g. immunization or Vitamin A supplementation; back to school campaigns etc.). Through alliance-building and partnerships often combined with media campaigns, social mobilization also engages and motivates various partners at national and local levels to raise awareness of and demand for a particular development objective and to provide sustainable, multi-faceted solutions to broad social problems.”[1]

 

Target Audiences:

 

• National and community leaders
• Community groups/organizations

 

3. Community Engagement

 

“Community engagement focuses on collective or group participation, not on any particular behavior. It empowers communities and their social networks to reflect on and address a range of behaviors, issues and decisions that affect their lives and to proactively involved in their development. Community participation is a strategy that raises awareness and strengthens the capacity of both “rights holders” and “duty bearers” to assess, analyze, plan, facilitate, implement and monitor and evaluate interventions that will promote the survival, development, protection and participation of children and women."[2]

 

Target audiences:

 

• Social influencers, such as teachers, religious leaders, community elders, and local politicians

• Existing community groups (such as women’s groups)

 

4. Capacity-building

 

“Capacity-building at the institutional and community levels is an important component for strong and effective C4D programmes. There are many strategies for developing capac­ities for the management and delivery of C4D programmes, including formal and informal skills training, mentoring, sup­portive supervision, and team building exercises. The type of strategy selected depends on the existing level of capacity, the type of strengthening required and the level at which the ca­pacity needs to be strengthened (e.g. individual, group, com­munity, organization/institution or national level).”

 

Target audiences:

 

• Health workers

 

5. Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC)

 

“SBCC promotes and facilitates behavior change and supports broader social change for the purpose of improving health outcomes. SBCC is guided by a comprehensive ecological theory that incorporates both individual-level change and change at the family, community, environmental and structural levels. A strategic SBCC approach follows a systematic process to analyze a problem in order to define key barriers and motivators to change, and then design and implement a comprehensive set of interventions to support and encourage positive behaviors. A communication strategy provides the guiding design for SBCC campaigns and interventions, ensuring communication objectives are set, intended audiences are identified, and consistent messages are determined for all materials and activities.”

 

Target Audiences:

 

• Mothers

• Fathers

• Adolescent and pre-adolescent girls

• Any individual that wants to influence conversations online (particularly girls, parents, and the general public)

• Social media influencers / Youtube stars / bloggers

 

6. Vaccine Safety Communication

 

Vaccine safety communication entails promoting “awareness of vaccine risks and benefits” and preparing for “managing any adverse events and concerns about vaccine safety promptly.” Communicating about vaccine safety is essential in at least three situations, namely (1) explaining properly the benefits and risks of a recommended vaccine; (2) addressing public concerns and upcoming or persistent rumours about vaccine safety; (3) preparing to address vaccine safety crises if and when they occur.”[3]

 

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