MODULE 1: Understanding the Social Ecological Model (SEM) and

Communication for Development (C4D)

The present Module provides a description of (1) the Social Ecological Model (SEM), a
framework for understanding the multiple levels of a social system and interactions between
individuals and environment within this system, (2) a model of the communication for
development (C4D) approach. The importance of identifying and incorporating social norms
into programme planning, partnerships, and capacity strengthening is also discussed.

UNICEF C4D supports social and behaviour change strategies that produce programme and
outcome synergies and positive change within a social system. The Social Ecological Model
represents a social system (Figure 1). For every level in the SEM there are corresponding C4D
approaches for achieving behavioural and social change (Figure 2).

Social Ecological Model (SEM)

The Social Ecological Model (SEM) is a theory-based framework for understanding the
multifaceted and interactive effects of personal and environmental factors that determine
behaviours, and for identifying behavioural and organizational leverage points and
intermediaries for health promotion within organizations. There are five nested, hierarchical
levels of the SEM: Individual, interpersonal, community, organizational, and policy/enabling
environment (Figure 1). Table 1 provides a brief description of each of the SEM levels. The
most effective approach to public health prevention and control uses a combination of
interventions at all levels of the model.

Policy/Enabling Environment (national,

(national, state,
state,
local
local laws)
laws)
Organizational (organizations and social
institutions
Community (relationships between
organizations)
organizations)
Interpersonal (families,
Individual
friends,
friends, social networks)
social networks)
(knowledge,
attitudes,
behaviors)

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 Figure 1. The Social Ecological Model

Source: Adapted from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), The Social Ecological Model: A
Framework for Prevention, http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/overview/social-ecologicalmodel.html
(Retrieved April 21, 2014).

Table 1. A Description of Social Ecological Model (SEM) Levels

SEM Level Description
Individual  Characteristics of an individual that influence behaviour change, including
knowledge, attitudes, behaviour, self-efficacy, developmental history, gender,
age, religious identity, racial/ethnic/caste identity, sexual orientation, socio-
economic status, financial resources, values, goals, expectations, literacy,
stigma, and others.
Interpersonal  Formal (and informal) social networks and social support systems that can
influence individual behaviours, including family, friends, peers, co-workers,
religious networks, customs or traditions.
Community  Relationships among organizations, institutions, and informational networks
within defined boundaries, including the built environment (e.g., parks), village
associations, community leaders, businesses, and transportation.

Organizational  Organizations or social institutions with rules and regulations for operations
that affect how, or how well, for example, MNCHN services are provided to an
individual or group; schools that include MNCHN in the curriculum.
Policy/Enabling  Local, state, national and global laws and policies, including policies regarding
Environment the allocation of resources for maternal, newborn, and child health and access
to healthcare services, restrictive policies (e.g., high fees or taxes for health
services), or lack of policies that require childhood immunizations.

Communication for Development (C4D)

Communication for Development (C4D) is a systematic, planned, and evidence-based approach
to promote positive and measurable behavioural and social change. C4D is an approach that
engages communities and decision-makers at local, national, and regional levels, in dialogue
toward promoting, developing, and implementing policies and programmes that enhance the
quality of life for all. The C4D approach uses information- and dialogue- based processes and
mechanisms to empower populations, especially those that are marginalized and vulnerable,
and to facilitate and build collective efficacy and actions. C4D aims to strengthen the capacity
of communities to identify their own development needs, assess the options and take action,
and assess the impact of their actions in order to address remaining gaps. C4D approaches and
tools facilitate dialogues between those who have rights to claim and those who have the
power to realize these rights (UNICEF C4D Position Paper, NYHQ, 2008).

Figure 2 shows the communication approaches that make up the C4D strategy: (1) Behaviour
change communication (BCC); (2) social mobilization (including strengthening an enabling
media and communication environment); (3) social change communication; and (4) advocacy.

4
These strategies correspond to specific levels of the SEM where they are most effective. It is
important to note that the different approaches (right side tabs) can apply to levels other than
the one they are next to, for example, the advocacy approach can also be used at the
community or organizational levels.

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 A dvocacy
Advocacy

SSocial
o c ia l M o b iliz a t io n
Mobilization

Policy/Enabling Environment (national,

(national, sttate,
sttate,
local laws)
local laws) SSocial
o c ia l CChange
h a n g e CCommunication
o m m u n ic a t io n
Organizational (organizations and social
institutions)
Community (relationships
(relationships between
between
organizations)
organizations)
Interpersonal (families,
(families,
BBehavior
e h a v io r Change
C h a n g e CCommunication
o m m u n ic a t io n &&
friends, social
Individual
friends, networks)
social networks) SSocial
o c ia l CChange
h a n g e CCommunication
o m m u n ic a t io n
(knowledge,
attitudes,
behaviors)
BBehavior
e h a v io r CChange
h a n g e CCommunication
o m m u n ic a t io n

Figure 2. The Social Ecological Model (left side) and corresponding C4D Approaches (right side)

5
Table 2 provides a summary of the C4D approaches, their key features, and the usual intended
participant groups for each approach. The C4D approaches are interrelated and interactive and
using them in a well-planned programme produces a synergistic effect. Simple preventive
actions by the individual, family and community, stimulated by behaviour change
communication (BCC), are the most immediate means for improving maternal, newborn, and
child health. Advocacy strategies can pave the way for new laws or change a policy that may be
impeding change. Multi-level approaches help shift community and organizational norms to
ensure that behaviour changes are sustained over time. Below is a description of each of the
C4D approaches.

Table 2. Summary of Key Features and Participant Groups for the C4D Approaches
C4D Approach Key Features Participant Groups
Advocacy  Focuses on policy environment and seeks to  Policymakers and
develop or change laws, policies, and decision-makers
administrative practices  Programme planners
 Works through coalition-building, community  Programme
mobilization, and communication of evidence- implementers
based justifications for programmes  Community leaders
Social  Focuses on uniting partners at the national and  National and
Mobilization community levels for a common purpose community leaders
 Emphasizes collective efficacy and  Community
empowerment to create an enabling groups/organizations
environment  Public and private
 Works through dialogue, coalition-building, partners
group/organizational activities
Social Change  Focuses on enabling groups of individuals to  Groups of individuals
Communication engage in a participatory process to define their in communities
needs, demand their rights, and collaborate to
transform their social system
 Emphasizes public and private dialogue to
change behaviour on a large scale, including
norms and structural inequalities
 Works through interpersonal communication,
community dialogue, mass and digital social
media

Behaviour  Focuses on individual knowledge, attitudes,  Individuals

Change motivations, self-efficacy, skills building, and  Families/households
Communication behaviour change  Small groups (e.g.
 Works through interpersonal communication, mothers’ support
mass and digital social media group)

6
The following is a description of each of the C4D approaches:

Advocacy
The policy/enabling environment level of the SEM consists of policy, legislation, politics and
other areas of leadership that influence health and development. A strategy used to address
this level of the social system is advocacy. Advocacy is an organized effort to inform and
motivate leadership to create an enabling environment for achieving programme 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.

There are three common types of advocacy:

1. Policy advocacy, to influence policymakers and decision makers to change legislative,
social, or infrastructural elements of the environment, including the development of
equity-focused programmes and corresponding budget allocations;
2. Community advocacy, to empower communities to demand policy, social, or
infrastructural change in their environment, and
3. Media advocacy, to enlist the mass media to push policymakers and decision makers
toward changing the environment.

Advocacy includes motivating different levels of decision makers (e.g. politicians, policymakers)
to publically discuss important issues, defend new ideas or policies, and commit resources to
action. The advocacy process requires continuous efforts to translate relevant information into
cogent arguments or justifications and to communicate the arguments in an appropriate
manner to decision makers.
You may want to advocate for:

 Dedicated C4D programme funds

 National, sub-national, and local C4D supportive structures
 Research support
 Media support
 Standardized monitoring systems
 Building capacity among community health workers
 Raising the issue of child survival on the policy agenda
 Community ownership and support for local C4D programme activities

The most common barriers to influencing leadership toward creating an enabling environment
for C4D programming can include: (1) political or institutional instability (e.g., high turnover of
leadership and re-structuring) or lack of political will; (2) a lack of local evidence on overall
programme cost and cost effectiveness; (3) a lack of reliable data about the efficacy,

7
 effectiveness, or value of a programme; (4) dissension among the leadership between health
and other divisions of a government; (5) tensions or low capacity with regard to the use of
various levels of health workers; (6) resistance from professional and/or regulatory bodies; (7)
systems requirements (e.g., human resources, commodities); (8) contradictory policies; (9)
culturally ingrained practices, social norms, and resistance to change; and (10) a lack of social
accountability by policymakers.

A good approach to developing an advocacy strategy is to identify key elements for different
decision-makers, and examples of the concerns, activities and tools that suit these particular
intended populations (Key Elements to Consider).

Box 1 provides a checklist for how to develop an advocacy strategy. Advocacy messages are a
critical element of an advocacy strategy. The policymakers/decision makers you intend to
reach have limited time to spend on your issue alone so it is important to craft clear, concise
and compelling messages (i.e., what you are proposing, why it is important, the benefits and
positive impacts of addressing the issue, and your specific request for action), deliver messages
effectively (i.e., the messages should be easy to understand and stand out from competing
messages), and reinforce messages to ensure that your issues remain on the leadership’s
agenda. All advocacy messages and tools should be pretested and all advocacy efforts should
be monitored and evaluated for impact and outcomes.

BOX 1: AN ADVOCACY STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT CHECKLIST

1. Establish a working group to develop your advocacy strategy.
2. Collect data and information on the advocacy issue (e.g., review current practices and policies, inventory current
programmes/activities, and understand the context in which programmes and policies are implemented). You should write a
justification for why your issue is important and how it fills a practical need.
3. Identify your primary and secondary participant groups (i.e., make a list of key individuals, groups, stakeholders, decision-makers,
that can help you move your issue forward, and a list of the opponents, and identify each person or group’s current
position/perceptions and concerns about the issue).
4. Identify the information sources that each individual or group uses/relies on/trusts the most.
5. Define your advocacy objectives and develop an implementation plan for advocacy activities (including team/partner
responsibilities, timeline, and monitoring tools).
6. Identify the resources needed for advocacy activities (e.g., human resources, time, and money) and create a budget.
7. Develop and pretest advocacy tools.
8. Develop an evaluation plan for advocacy activities and document changes based on the established advocacy objectives.

Social Mobilization
Social mobilization (SM) is a continuous process that engages and motivates various inter-
sectoral partners at national and local levels to raise awareness of, and demand for, a particular
development objective. These partners may include government policy makers and decision-
makers, community opinion leaders, bureaucrats and technocrats, professional groups,
religious associations, non-governmental organizations, private sector entities, communities,
and individuals. This communication approach focuses on people and communities as agents of

8
 their own change, emphasizes community empowerment, and creates an enabling
environment for change and helps build the capacity of the groups in the process, so that they
are able to mobilize resources and plan, implement and monitor activities with the community.

Engagement is usually through interpersonal communication (i.e., face-to-face dialogue) among

partners toward changing social norms and accountability structures, providing sustainable,
multifaceted solutions to broad social problems, and creating demand and utilization of quality
services. Other channels and activities for SM may include mass media awareness-raising
campaigns, advocacy with community leaders to increase their commitment to the issue, and
activities that promote broad social dialogue about the issues, such as talk shows on national
television and radio, community meetings, traditional participatory theater performances,
home visits, and leaflets. The outcomes are usually oriented toward developing a supportive
environment for decision-making and resource allocation to empower communities to act at
the grassroots level. Table 3 shows the five usual phases of the social mobilization process1:

Table 3. Five Phases of the Social Mobilization Process

Phase Description
1. Building Partners organize meetings and activities to understand one another, determine
rapport and commonalities, and share knowledge and perspectives with regard to the problem that
sharing will be addressed.
knowledge

2. Problem Partners conduct exercises to analyze the nature of the problem, identify and prioritize
analysis and needs, develop a common problem statement, goals and objectives, and draft an
action plan action plan.

3. Organization Partners develop a participatory, self-governing, self-managing, and self-sustaining

building committee, coalition, or working group through which resources and actions are
organized.

4. Capacity Partners may identify weakness in their ability to take action and engage experts or
building experienced individuals or groups to build the capacity of the committee or coalition to
help them achieve their goals and objectives.
5. Action and Partners must be involved consistently through all phases of the action plan. It is
sustainability important that there is shared recognition for implementation and success,
transparency, equity, and joint decision-making.

Social mobilization recognizes that sustainable social and behaviour change requires
collaboration at multiple levels, from individual to community to policy and legislative action,
and that partnerships and coordination yield stronger impacts than isolated efforts. Key
strategies of social mobilization include using advocacy to mobilize resources and change
inhibiting policies, media and special events to raise public awareness and create public spheres
1
Shefner-Rogers, C. (2013). Regional Communication Strategy Development Guide for Newborn Care and the
Prevention and Control of Childhood Pneumonia and Diarrhoea in East Asia and the Pacific Region. New York:
UNICEF (unpublished).

9
for debate, building and strengthening partnership and networks, and motivating community
participation.

Social Change Communication

Social change communication (SCC) is a purposeful and iterative process of public and private
dialogue, debate, and negotiation that allows groups of individuals or communities to define
their needs, identify their rights, and collaborate to transform the way their social system is
organized, including the way power is distributed within social and political institutions. This
process is usually participatory and is meant to change behaviours on a large scale,
eliminate harmful social and cultural practices, and change social norms and structural
inequalities.

While social mobilization (above) focuses on creating and sustaining action-oriented

partnerships to create an enabling environment for positive health and nutrition, SCC focuses
on creating ownership of the process of change among individuals and communities. The
emphasis of SCC is on creating empowered communities that know and claim their rights and
become their own agents for changing social norms, policies, culture and environment (e.g.,
healthcare delivery infrastructure).

Multi-faceted communication interventions (e.g., using mass-, social-, and traditional media,
digital or information communication technology (ICTs), and/or mHealth) aimed at changing
individual behaviour play an important role as a foundation for SCC, with an emphasis on using
local communication content that is socially and culturally appropriate to the community.
Community members control the tools of communication directly, allowing for suitably tailored
messages. Such interventions, however, must be reinforced by activities that encourage
dialogue within the community to motivate people to shift toward desirable social/community
beliefs, norms, and practices, and are often combined with advocacy (Using Social Change
Communication to Promote Child Survival in Niger).

Community dialogue for social change generally follows a pattern. The dialogue usually begins
with a catalyst for change. The catalyst may be an individual within the community, a change
agent working for a health organization who introduces a new vaccine, or a mass media
message heard by individuals in the community. For example, a mother might talk to another
mother about how many infants in the community have severe coughs and how many have
died as a result of pneumonia (the mothers may or may not know it as “pneumonia”). The
mothers might talk to, and ask questions of, others in their family and social networks about
the problem, which may prompt someone to identify an opinion leader or potential champion
(e.g., a community health worker) that can help to address the problem. Usually the person
who takes up the cause calls a meeting to discuss the issues related to the problem and to
achieve consensus about how to address the problem.

Collective action by the community to address the problem requires:

 Clearly assessing the current status of the problem and developing a shared vision of what
the community would like to achieve (e.g., increased access to vaccines)
 Developing specific and measurable objectives that reflect the community’s expectations
for addressing the problem (e.g., To increase by X percent the number of children under five

10
 years that are vaccinated by December 2016.)
 Deciding upon appropriate and reasonable activities to motivate change (e.g., interactive
street theater performance to raise awareness about the problem; health fairs or
immunization days sponsored by the community)
 Developing an action plan and resources (human and financial) to implement activities
 Assigning responsibilities to community participants (and/or organizations within the
community) for specific tasks
 Implementing the activities in the action plan
 Monitoring the inputs (e.g., resources) and activities to ensure that the activities are being
implemented as planned
 Evaluating the outcomes to determine if the actions achieved the specified objectives (the
evaluation should be participatory and involve the community members)
 Dialoguing about the outcomes and lessons learned (collective evaluation) and planning
further action as appropriate

Communities that engage in this collective process of social change communication are likely to
gain a sense of collective efficacy, feel a greater sense of ownership for their actions and
outcomes, and believe in their capacity to engage in similar projects in the future.

Behaviour Change Communication

Behaviour change communication (BCC) is the strategic use of communication to promote
positive health outcomes. BCC is a theory-based, research-based, interactive process to
develop tailored messages and approaches, using a variety of population-appropriate
communication channels, to motivate sustained individual- and community- level changes in
knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours. Formative research is used to understand current levels
of knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours among individuals in a specified population in order to
develop communication programmes that move those individuals along a continuum of change
(or through stages of change) toward the desired positive behaviour(s).

Using the BCC approach can help to:

1. Stimulate community dialogue and raise awareness about the problem

2. Increase knowledge, for example, about the importance of exclusive breastfeeding or hand
washing with soap
3. Promote attitude change, for example, about the risks associated with not vaccinating a
child against pneumonia
4. Reduce stigma, for example, around exclusive breastfeeding
5. Create demand for information and services
6. Advocate with policymakers and opinion leaders toward effective approaches to reducing
deaths from childhood pneumonia and diarrhoea
7. Promote services for prevention and control
8. Improve skills and the sense of self-efficacy, for example, by teaching mothers how to keep
their baby’s umbilical cord clean or when to seek care for dehydration due to diarrhoea

BCC is an essential part of comprehensive prevention and control programmes that include
both services (e.g., health, medical) and commodities (e.g., vaccines, oral rehydration packets,

11
VIP latrines). Before individuals and communities can reduce their level of risk or change their
behaviours, they must first understand basic facts about MNCHN health risks, adopt key
attitudes, learn a set of skills (e.g., exclusive breastfeeding, care-seeking at appropriate times,
hand washing with soap) and be given access to appropriate products and services. They must
also perceive their environment as supporting behaviour change and the maintenance of safe
behaviours, as well as supportive of seeking appropriate prevention, treatment and support (An
Integrated Behaviour Change Communication Approach in Vietnam).

The above four approaches (advocacy, social mobilization, social change communication, and
behaviour change communication) are interrelated and interactive. When strategically
combined, they produce a synergistic effect, that is, an increased intensity or effect with more
efficient use of resources. BCC programmes stimulate the most immediate preventive actions
among individuals, families and communities for decreasing childhood pneumonia and
diarrhoea. Advocacy strategies can be used to create new laws or change existing policies to
facilitate change. Multi-level approaches that help to change social, cultural, or institutional
norms and enable behaviour change are most likely to result in sustained social and behaviour
change over time.2

The Importance of Social Norms

Social norms refer to the perceived standards of acceptable attitudes and behaviours within
formal and informal networks. These are the “unwritten rules” that are adhered to in a
person’s family or peer group, and within a community or society at large. Norms can generally
be defined as those regulating factors that determine how a person behaves in a particular
context.3 Individuals may engage in specific behaviours as a result of their perceptions about
(1) the consequences of not conforming to social norms, (2) what others in their social network
are doing and how they are behaving, and/or (3) what others in their social network think they
should be doing. Evidence shows that strategies that include social networks, influencers,
collective behaviours, and social norms have a large impact on social and behaviour change.

Changing social norms or creating new social norms requires shifting (1) people’s paradigms
about what they perceive to be right or true, and (2) people’s expectations regarding normative
behaviours. Social norms that are deeply rooted in one’s beliefs are the most difficult to
change. Often social norms are embedded in informal networks, such as grandmother’s
linkages or peer groups. Informal networks can be powerful and important because they have
the capability of supporting or opposing larger social norm aims. Religious norms are very
important to recognize; a religious norm can be a social norm, held in place by empirical and
normative expectations and informally enforced; or can be a legal norm, held in place by the
formal enforcement of a religious authority; or can be a moral norm motivated by conscience.

2
Vélez, L., Sanitato, M, Barry, D , Alilio, M, Apfel, F, Coe, G., Garcia, A, et al.. The role of health systems and policy in producing
social and behaviour change to enhance child survival and development in low- and middle-income countries: An examination
of the evidence. Journal of Health Communication. Special Issue, p. 89 – 121, September 2014.
3
Kempf, WF, Hilke. R (December 2012). The measurement of social norms in mathematical models for social psychology, ed. by
Wilhelm F. Kempf. Bern: Huber, 1977.

12
 Figure 3. General considerations in measuring social norms4

Social norms are usually understood by measuring individual attitudes (positive or negative
feelings regarding an idea or behaviour) and beliefs (perceptions about what is true or false). 5
Figure 3 is a schematic that highlights the concepts to consider when measuring social norms.

To date, the most commonly used surveys (e.g., Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) and
Multi-Cluster Indicator Survey (MICS)) do not capture social norm data. 6,7 Efforts are underway
to develop ways to measure social norms. For example, the structure of ties in a network, and
possibly their strength, can shape the pathway of a change. Social network analysis provides a
way to describe the social relations among individuals, how the structures of relations vary,
how the diffusion of social learning or social influence varies in different structures, what counts
as a group, and more. The simplest and most informal type of network analysis is based on
asking people who relates to whom with respect to a particular practice. For example, if
supporting an organization within a community to shift toward a new social norm of universal
4
Source: Gerry Mackie, (January 2013). General Considerations in measuring social norms, Power point presentation, STRIVE
Meeting, C4D Section, Programme Division, UNICEF New York. Please see:
http://strive.lshtm.ac.uk/sites/strive.lshtm.ac.uk/files/Gerry%20Mackie%20General%20considerations%20in%20measuring
%20social%20norms.pdf.
5
Communication for Development (C4D) (December, 2012). The rationale for the selection of C4D indicators in monitoring and
promoting C4D interventions for positive and sustained change. New York: UNICEF, Programme Division, C4D Section.
6
Applying a social norms perspective in programmes (January 2013). New York: STRIVE meeting:
http://strive.lshtm.ac.uk/sites/strive.lshtm.ac.uk/files/Francesca%20Moneti%20UNICEF%20social%20norms
%20perspective.pdf.
7
Gerry Mackie, (January 2013). General considerations in measuring social norms, Paper presentation, STRIVE Meeting, C4D
Section, Programme Division, UNICEF New York. Please see:
http://strive.lshtm.ac.uk/resources/social-norms-theory-and-practice-resources-strive-workshop

13
latrine villagers would be asked who defecates where and the answers would be used to map
the areas of defecation in order to determine, for example, high risk areas. In total sanitation
programmes, these inquiries can be collaborative and quick.

The various C4D approaches can be used to shift social norms toward positive norms through
interpersonal and
community dialogue, social Box 2. Using a Survey to Determine Information Flow
mobilization, and
advocacy. For example, A study by USAID Guinea wanted to know the reference group for
gender norms and social decision-making on female genital mutilation or cutting (FGM/C)
expectations of the roles among urban Guineans (CRDH 2008). A survey was conducted
among people in the major cities of Guinea to determine who the
that men play in
respondent consulted about more important issues. They found
reproductive health affects that among lower‐income individuals that lived in ethnically
their attitudes and homogeneous neighborhoods, the respondent usually turned to
behaviours about HIV and members of their rural community of origin for more important
pregnancy prevention, decisions, regardless of the rural influential having lower media
gender-based violence, and exposure than urban dwellers. Higher‐income individuals who
their participation in lived in ethnically mixed urban neighborhoods turned to friends,
pregnancy, childbirth, coworkers, media figures, and religious groups for their
newborn care and child information. These findings suggested avenues for designing
care. Programmes that programmes to change social norms around FGM/C.
address the social
Source: Mackie, et al., What are Social Norms? How are they measured?
construction of gender UNICEF/UCSD Center on Global Justice Project Cooperation Agreement.
roles through group or Working Paper, October 1, 2012.
peer education,
community outreach,
mobilization, and mass media campaigns, and promote policy-level changes that support
positive social norms have been shown to have effects on changing norms (Approaches for
Changing Gender-Based Norms).

In Yemen, the Safe Age of Marriage intervention used a community-based approach to change
social norms and community attitudes regarding early marriage, girls’ education, and the rights
of girl children, including educating communities about the social and health consequences of
child marriages, gaining support for keeping girls in school as an alternative to child marriage,
and securing the support of religious leaders and stakeholders to support of increased age of
marriage (Fostering Change in Social Norms Around Safe Age of Marriage in Yemen).

How to Use the Social Ecological Model for Planning a Strategic C4D Intervention
Since individuals exist in a social ecological system, changing individual-level behaviours and
creating new social norms collectively requires creating a supportive and an enabling
environment, that is, an environment that is conducive to and facilitative of change and
removes bottlenecks that inhibit change at the household, community, organizational, and
policy levels. For example, if a programme goal is to increase the number of children that are
immunized, then (1) parents and caregivers must understand what are vaccines and
immunization, why it is important to have their child immunized, have trust in the vaccines and

14
in the routine immunization programme, and be motivated to seek and demand immunization
for their child, (2) parents and caregivers must have easy access to immunizations for their child
in their locale, (3) health facilities and/or community health workers must be trained in good
interpersonal communication skills and health counseling, and equipped to provide
immunizations, and (4) communities must embrace and own the importance of child survival,
demand immunization, and create a social norm around immunization.

Programme managers and programme planners should use the SEM (1) to understand the
complexity of, and possible avenues for addressing the health problem, and (2) to prioritize
resources and interventions that address the multiple facets of the problem, remove
bottlenecks, and create an enabling environment for sustained social and behaviour change. As
described above, a preliminary tool that some programme managers and programme planners
use to help them assess the social ecological landscape prior to developing a strategic
programme plan is the SWOT – strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats - analysis. A
SWOT analysis is one element of a strategic plan. The SWOT analysis is an inventory of
resources. It usually focuses on four key programme management areas: (1) partnerships, (2)
capacity development, (3) research, monitoring and evaluation, and (4) resource mobilization
(SWOT Analysis Template).

The SWOT analyses will highlight internal organizational strengths, internal weaknesses,
external opportunities, and external threats or barriers to achieving your programme’s goal and
objectives. The SWOT analysis will help to determine how to focus on high-priority vulnerable,
marginalized, and hard-to-reach populations, where change is possible, and provide
opportunities to change course or revise priorities as appropriate in order to reach your
programme goals. For example, an assessment of resources for a strategic C4D programme
with a goal of increasing immunization may allow (1) for advocacy activities toward a policy that
assures that every child is immunized, (2) for organizational capacity-building to develop a
cadre of trained healthcare providers and promoters at the local level, (3) for community
engagement activities to create demand for quality healthcare services where immunizations
can be obtained at a reasonable cost, and (4) for a campaign to promote the importance,
availability, skilled providers, and points-of-access for immunizations in an underserved
community.

Partnerships, Collaborations, and Ownership

Strong partnerships and collaborations are at the core of effective C4D programmes. When
partners take ownership of a programme, it is more likely to succeed. A strong communication
programme should engage multiple partners at the national and local levels in a participatory
manner; no single entity can achieve the results produced through multi-partner collaborations.
Partners can provide programme support through expertise, capacity building, and resource
mobilization, can broaden the reach and profile of the programme through network affiliations,
and can help to avoid duplication of efforts. Different stakeholders should be involved where
appropriate including non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the private sector.

A key strategy for developing and administering C4D programmes is to create an infrastructure
or centralized mechanism for engaging partners in a participatory process to manage the
programme (e.g., C4D Coordinating Committee). Such centralized mechanisms are more

15
successful when partners create the mechanism together. The process for developing such a
mechanism, and the ground rules by which it will operate, helps to create the culture of the
partnership and develop working relationships.

The key to high-performance partnerships is continuous and open information sharing. There
should be a mechanism for sharing information and communicating about the activities of the
group and the programme. For newly formed groups, it is useful to begin by clarifying a shared
vision to help partners focus on the path to achieving success and brainstorming about the
limitations and challenges to realizing the vision and how the team of partners can overcome
the limitations or challenges. The partners should also develop a common goal and objectives
for the partnership and discuss the potential contributions of each individual, group, or
organizational partner. Meetings should be held on a regular basis to share information, assess
progress, re-visit programme objectives and activities, and discuss next steps in the programme
steering process.

Capacity Strengthening
Capacity strengthening 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 Figure 4. UNICEF C4D Capability Framework
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).

Individuals might benefit from topic- or skills-

based trainings, demonstrations, study-tours,
observations, and supportive supervision.
Groups and communities might engage in
participatory training workshops, group
education meetings, and team-building
exercises.
Organizations and institutions might gain
insight into their capacities through special
studies, for example a SWOT analysis, that
engages members of the organization in an
exercise to determine the strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities, and threats facing
Source: C4D Section, UNICEF New York, 2009.
the institution in such areas as partnerships,
research, monitoring, and evaluation, and
resource mobilization, and enable them to make recommendations for leveraging internal

16
strengths, improving internal weaknesses, exploiting external opportunities, and minimizing
external threats.

For example, recent SWOT analyses for UNICEF offices in East Asia and the Pacific identified
weaknesses in the area of research, monitoring and evaluation. Training programmes for
national staff may be designed to cover specific topics (e.g., how to develop a survey
questionnaire, how to write an evaluation report) or the more broad area of how to implement
and scale up a C4D intervention, and how to manage the monitoring and evaluation component
of a programme. Training may be provided formally, through workshops and courses, or
informally, through working together. Programme managers might identify and circulate
copies of a well-written C4D strategy and implementation plan, monitoring plan or evaluation
to illustrate what end products are expected. Formal training followed by on-site technical
assistance is an effective way of supporting the skills building process.

Strengthening capacity at the national level, for example, with government officials who are not
clear on the contributions of C4D for child survival programmes, might involve advocacy
briefings accompanied by well-packages tools with appropriate data, field visits, focused
trainings, and invitations to participate in special events (e.g., National Immunization Days), and
educational materials (e.g., DVDs, booklets).

It is useful to conduct an inventory of current skills and gaps in capacity to decide what type of
capacity strengthening is needed and at what level. Programme managers also need to be
mindful of strengthening programme staffing and institutional policies that can affect overall
programme capacity (UNICEF C4D Capability Framework). The UNICEF C4D Capability
Development Framework8 can guide and support programme managers on the identification of
gaps and the development of plans for capacity strengthening; the box to the right provides a
diagram of the most essential elements that must be known in order to develop capability.

To develop capacity, it is critical to focus on the development of partner capabilities. Training

initiatives for capacity strengthening should build on past and current experiences. Also,
participatory communication approaches should be integrated, if not yet, into existing human
development related curricula within universities and training institutions. Existing staff in
development projects at all levels (professional, operational, policy and decision-making)
should be given opportunities to comprehensively upgrade and improve their communication
for development skills.

Social accountability
Social accountability involves ongoing, collective action by civil society groups to hold public
officials and service providers to account for the provision of public goods 9. It is important for
communities implementing the changes to identify their role in ongoing, measureable
improvements in outcomes in order to continue their involvement and ownership of the
process. The C4D approach promotes a participatory and engaging process throughout the

8
Communication for Development (C4D) Capability Development Framework, UNICEF and 3D Change, 2009. This document is
available at http://www.unicef.org/cbsc/index_65738.html
9
Joshi, A. and Gurza Lavalle, A. Collective Action Around Service Delivery ‘How social accountability can improve service
delivery for poor people’

17
levels within the SEM to enhance
social accountability mechanisms. M- Box 3: Using ICTs for Social Accountability: “mTrac is
track is an example of a C4D changing the face of health operation in Uganda”
intervention being used in social A new SMS-based mobile technology, mTrac is
connecting community members to health care
accountability. Box 3 illustrates the
providers and hospitals. Through the toll free mTrac
effectiveness of this mobile SMS Hotline (8200), any community member can
application in Uganda. report health service-related issues, including stockouts
of essential drugs in hospitals. Currently, more than 10
Social accountability is a prominent million mobile subscribers are capable of engaging with
theme of the United Nations Every the government in monitoring health services through
Woman Every Child campaign. mTrac. It is a free service that is rapidly gaining
Governments with high maternal and popularity among low-income families that do not have
child mortality made commitments to access to computers, but own phones. The system
invest in maternal, newborn, and child helps community health workers track pregnancies,
health programmes to accelerate the report on danger signs during pregnancy, subscribe to
emergency alerts to ensure that women can access
rate of mortality decline in order to
emergency obstetric care and provides a real-time
achieve the Millennium Development national surveillance mechanism for maternal health.
Goals (MDGs) by 2015 and the Post- M-trac is able to provide rapid response to disease
2015 Agenda, the Sustainable outbreaks and identify supply chain bottlenecks and
Development Goals (SDGs), as well as abnormalities, using the health management
A Promise Renewed (APR), a vision of information system (HMIS) as a source of information. .
ending preventable child deaths by
2035. Engaging communities and Source: http://www.unicef.org/uganda/mTrac_article
community-based workers in the %281%29.pdf
process of measuring health status of
children, in assessing causing of
deaths, in defining high-risk groups, and in measuring changes in mortality over time will enable
governments to achieve levels of under-5 mortality according to their commitments 10. The post-
2015 agenda will provide opportunities for strengthening accountability mechanisms that
involve citizens in varying capacities.11

Innovations
Children and their families around the world face various barriers to fulfilling their rights,
especially in resource-limited settings. Through engagement and partnership with organizations
and individuals from the public, private and academic sectors, user-driven innovations can be
developed that can contribute to resolving the challenges faced by children and families. For
example, the uPortal, a multi-media content delivery system designed specifically for off-line
environments is being used in West and Central Africa. A new technology called Phase-Change-
Material (PCM) was developed and used to mitigate the risk of freezing temperature-sensitive
vaccines in cold chain management. A new weight measurement tape was designed to
facilitate the measurement and monitoring of children’s weight at community health centers 12.
10
Perry, H (June 15, 2012). Ensuring accountability to deliver results: the role of community-level data and
information in ensuring accountability. Washington, DC: USAID, Chip and Core Group.
11
Reflections on social accountability (2013). New York: United Nations Development Programme..
12
For more information, please see: http://www.unicefinnovation.org/.

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Steps in Developing a C4D Strategy
Developing a C4D strategy to influence or reinforce social and behaviour change is a step-wise
process that begins with a solid understanding of the problem and population of interest in
order to ensure more efficient use of resources and greater behaviour change impact. Each
step of the process should include consultation with, and the participation of partners (e.g.,
policymakers, technical experts, local change agents, and media specialists) and members of
the intended participant groups that can impact and are affected by child survival issues. The
next Module in this Guide, Module 2, will take you through the steps for developing a C4D
strategy.

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