submitted by center for communication … by . center for communication programs nigeria . ......

NetCaRe Campaign Report Submitted by

Center for Communication Programs Nigeria

July 2013

NetCaRe Composite Report 2013

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Table of Content

Section Page No.

Section 1 Title Page

Table of Contents 2

Acknowledgement 3

Abbreviations and Acronyms 4

Section 2

Executive Summary (summary of findings and recommendations)

5

Section 3

1 Background & Introduction 7

2 Process-Project Activities 11

3 Documentation 20

4 Recommendations 21 Section 4 Annexes:

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Acknowledgement

CCPN wishes to appreciate the input and support of the Nasarawa State Ministry of Health and especially the Honorable Commissioner for Health Dr. Akabe who made collaboration with the state government possible. The RBM Manager Mr. Joseph Agu, is also highly appreciated.

The Center also wishes to specially say a big thank you to Her Excellency, the first lady of Nasarawa state, Hajia Salmatu Al Mankura who took time to attend and flag off the campaign at Garaku.

The traditional institution gave their full support to the campaign. His Royal Highness the Abaga of Toni personifies this, Dr. Sylvester O Ayih and took special interest in the campaign. This support trickled down to the focal communities where the Mai Angwas (Village Heads) gave their support to the campaign. CCPN is very grateful for this support.

The campaign would not have been successful without the active support of the RBM partners.

We appreciate the work of the campaign team under the leadership of the Project Manager, Mr Aboki Nawani.

A big thank you to Mr Emmanuel Obi, NetWorks coordinator in Nigeria and the entire Baltimore based NetWorks team for their support and commitment.


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List of Acronyms

BCC Behaviour Change Communication

CCPN Center for Communication Programs Nigeria

CCs Campaign Coordinators

CHVs Community Health Volunteers

CRS Catholic Relief Services

FAQ Frequently Asked Question

FGD Focused Group Discussion

HCH Honorable Commissioner for

IDI In-Depth Interview

IPA International Procurement Association

IPC Inter Personal Communication

JHUCCP Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Programs

LGA Local Government Area

LLIN Long Lasting Insecticidal Nets

LSHTM London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

MAPS Malaria Action Programme in States

MC Malaria Consortium

MEDA Mennonites Economic Development Association

NBS Nasarawa Broadcast Services

NMCP National Malaria Control Programme

RBM Roll Back Malaria

STTA Short Term Technical Assistance

TMC Transitional Malaria Committee

USAID United States Agency for International Development


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NetWorks Process Report

Executive Summary

NetWorks BCC campaign in Kokona LGA of Nasarawa state has as its goal, empowering communities with skills to enable them care for and repair their long lasting insecticide treated nets so as to make it last and protect the household from mosquitoes that cause malaria.

After engaging key campaign personnel, the communication strategy and media materials development workshop was held in Lafia. The malaria control partners that participated came from government and non-governmental organizations from National, state and local government.

The strategy document charted the road map for the NetCaRe campaign. Deliverables at the end of the intensive 3-day deliberation and one day community pretest included the elements of the strategy document, the campaign logo, key benefits, the BCC materials (5 pre-tested posters and radio spots). Through the consultations that happened during this period the commitment and endorsement of other partners, and the state government through the Honorable Commissioner for Health (HCH) in state ministry of health and the state RBM manager were secured.

The Community Health Volunteers (CHVs) were identified and trained over a period of 3 days in September 2012 using the training manual developed. A handbook was later developed for the CHVs. The CHVs were given an orientation on the campaign and provided factual information about nets and malaria control and prevention. They received information on basic community mobilization skills. They were able to better understand the IPC strategies that would be deployed and had the opportunity to conduct role-plays. Market storms, road shows, community dialogues, giving speeches at public or social events and house-to-house visits were some of the scenarios described.

CHVs were assigned communities and were prepared to commence implementation in adherence with the approved work plan.

As a symbol of the state’s commitment, the First lady of Nasarawa state, Hajia Salmatu Al Mankura, officially flagged off the campaign. The state MoH, other RBM partners including the NMCP was well represented. The highlight at this event was the media launch of the NetCaRe campaign. The campaign team interacted with the media who in turn received a press briefing kit containing details about the campaign, its objectives, main campaign messages, sample campaign materials, and lots more. They were expected to develop campaign highlights for use in the electronic and print media.

At the launching, the CHVs received campaign materials such as the CHV hand book, BCC materials including the FAQ leaflet, posters and identification materials such as t shirts and caps. Community leaders, state and LGA officials also received advocacy leaflets containing support required from leaders.

Community events officially started in November 2012 with senior campaign officials embarking on advocacy visits from November through to early December to solicit for their support..

The first round of community events that held was the community dialogue.


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Other community events that held included road shows and market storms and these continued until the end of March 2013. While community dialogues were organized and held on a settlement basis, both road shows and market storms were ward based. All throughout the duration of the community events, CHVs also conducted some routine house to house visits which provided an opportunity to demonstrate how to repair torn nets and also see how the cared for and repaired nets are used. While the second round of community dialogues were on, the enter educate approach format was brought on to the menu of IPC activities as a standardized interactive drama skit was staged at some of the meetings. These performances and the question and answer segment was very instrumental to building the knowledge and skills of community members on net care and repair.

As part of strategies to deepen community involvement, a plan to train the radio staff of NBS on how to gather human-interest success stories was followed up. The idea to include a song contest or community competition was developed. Preliminary concept ideas and preparations began in December and by April 2013, the final of the community song contest was held.

Through the hard work of the CHVs and senior campaign officials, the contest became a reality on the 13th of April, 2013. Despite the communal conflicts in a few of the settlements, all 20 of them were able to participate and all contestants came colorfully dressed with the NetCare campaign t shirts and to the delight of a large crowd, Baki Ayeni community emerged as the winner. All other participating communities were each rewarded with 10 LLIN nets and plaques.

While the song contest officially marks the end of community events in NetWorks net care and repair communication campaign, efforts were made to document stories from the community, campaign team and stakeholder perspective.

While we await the results of the durability study, without a doubt, the high level of commitment of campaign team, the deep involvement of community members, the commitment of their leaders and reports of nets being better cared for and torn ones repaired is a pointer that the campaign has connected with the community members in the selected communities in Kokona LGA.


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1. Introduction

Background NetWorks is a consortium of organizations working together to empower communities on how to prolong the lifespan of their mosquito nets. Major Partners in the consortium include: Malaria Consortium (MC), JHU/CCP, Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Mennonites Economic Development Association (MEDA), London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), Swiss Tropical Institute and International Procurement Agency (IPA). The project is funded by USAID. NetWorks is currently implementing a BCC intervention to promote net care and repair behaviors by bed net users in Nasarawa state, Nigeria. The BCC intervention is being implemented by the Center for Communication Programs – Nigeria (CCPN), with continued technical assistance and monitoring from NetWorks staff at all phases of the intervention.

The goal of the BCC intervention is to increase the useful life of nets by promoting care and repair behaviors among LLIN users in Kokona LGA, Nasarawa state using a multi-channeled strategic BCC campaign, advocacy (endorsements, testimonials), community activities (meetings, road shows) including strong and innovative use of radio (spots, live shows, interviews etc) and print materials (including job aids for CHVs).

NetWorks conceptualized the pilot BCC intervention, conducting formative research and a durability study (baseline and evaluation). Using the results of the formative research, CCPN in collaboration with NetWorks has led the design, plan, implement and supervise BCC interventions in support of net care and repair in Kokona LGA.

Critical to the success of this campaign is the support of the state government especially the MoH under the leadership of the Honorable Commissioner for Health. The State Roll Back Malaria Manager was supportive such that the state took the lead in all the community engagements. Another crucial part of the engagement process was the meeting with the traditional ruler of Garaku, the Abaga Toni, His Royal Highness Dr. Sylvester O Ayih who gave the project his royal blessing.

CCPN identified and hired a Nasarawa-based Project Manager and Campaign Coordinator and both were part of the strategy and materials development workshop held in September 2012, where they started taking on responsibilities for their position. (See full report in Annex 3)

A series of meetings were held with Networks team in country and from Baltimore;

At an initial meeting on the 5th of October, 2011 with Kojo Lokko and Rachael Weber of JHU/CCP with Emmanuel Obi of NetWorks in attendance, the choice of state, LGA and modalities of the pilot campaign were discussed. (See full report in Annex 1). Discussions also included choice of sites for the formative


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research and Durability study. Eventually, both Kokona and Toto LGAs were selected with one (Kokona) being implementation site while the other (Toto) is the control site for both the formative and Durability study sites. (See full report in Annex 2) The decision for radio was also finalized after confirmation on the status of radio reception in Toto LGA which had earlier been picked as the control LGA for the project. In the end, it was confirmed that radio would be used as a channel for messaging to Kokona LGA with the premise that Toto residents would not be exposed to the same messages.

At the instance of NetWorks, during the duration of the project, there were several conference calls where campaign progress was discussed, observations and concerns mentioned and way forward charted. The phone conferences, was a means of incorporating support and input from the Baltimore team.

CCPN was supported by STTA from Baltimore who visited the project site to accomplish specific scope of work developed over the period. Gabrielle Hunter and Peter Roberts made immense contributions to the campaign.

1.1 CCPN’s Malaria Experience CCPN’s experience in malaria includes formative research, strategy design, media materials development, malaria control and prevention implementation and evaluation. CCPN has malaria experience working with two organizations. It is a local partner on the Support to National Malaria Programme (SuNMaP). CCPN was contracted by the Center for Interfaith Action on Global Poverty (CIFA) to work with Nigerian Inter Faith Action Association (NIFAA) to conduct an assessment for the impact of building the capacity of religious faith leaders on delivering Malaria-related BCC messages and the effect on their followers’ knowledge, attitude and behavior in relation to Malaria control in Kaduna and Akwa-Ibom states. 1.11 Work with SuNMaP The DfID-funded Support to the Nigeria Malaria Program (SuNMaP) is a 5-year program aimed at working with the Government and people of Nigeria to strengthen the national effort to control malaria. This is carried out by working with and improving the capacity of the National and States Malaria Control Programmes (N/SMCP), in selected states and Local Government Areas (LGAs). SuNMaP is jointly managed by a consortium led by an international NGO, the Malaria Consortium, a UK-based company, Health Partners International, and a Nigerian company, GRID Consulting. JHU/CCP has the overall responsibility of ensuring that the program effectively delivers against output 5 (one of the key deliverables of SuNMaP); demand creation for effective malaria control. Other members of the consortium are Program Implementing Partners (PIPs), one of which is the Centre for Communication Programs Nigeria (CCPN). The project is currently being implemented in 9 states: Anambra, Kano, Niger, Katsina, Ogun, Kaduna, Jigawa, Enugu and Lagos States.


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CCPN brings strategic communication skills and technical expertise in program communication planning, public health communication planning, materials development and many other areas. At the National level, CCPN also facilitated stakeholder meetings and reviews, which led to the production of a very important document. This document1

By July 2010, CCPN, with support from CCP, Baltimore, facilitated the development of the Advocacy, Communication and Social Mobilization Strategic Framework and implementation Plan. Developed (ACSM SF and IP) with consensus from RBM partners, this document guides malaria partners in the implementation of ACSM interventions designed to support the national malaria control efforts. The strategic framework was followed by an implementation plan and a framework for monitoring and evaluation. The National brand and tag line for national malaria control efforts: “For a malaria-free Nigeria … play your part” was developed and agreed on.

relates strongly with the National Malaria Strategic Plan 2009-2013 (NMSP) which sets bold targets for achieving the Scale up for Impact (SUFI) and the Universal Coverage targets, set in Abuja in 2008.

Sequel to the development of the National ACSM SF and IP, CCPN supported the adaptation for the SuNMaP states SF and IP. During this process, other activities that took place included Constitution and training of the ACSM Committees on Basic Communication skills as well as the MMD workshop for each of the states.

The deliverables at the end of these exercises in addition to a pool of trained personnel on strategic communication, and a state SF and IP document to guide malaria control activities in the state included messages for radio through jingles, print; posters, leaflets and wall charts. All the materials developed were pretested among pregnant women, mothers of children under 5 years, heads of households (fathers) and health workers. 1.12 Work with CIFA/NIFAA- Formative Research and evaluation

The Faiths United for Health (FUH) Campaign is a pilot program of the Nigeria Inter-faith Action Association (NIFAA) that uses an interfaith action approach of Muslim and Christian religious leaders to educate and motivate Nigerians in the battle to eradicate malaria. Some 20,000 faith leaders have been involved in the program thus far, with concentrated effort in the states of Akwa Ibom, Benue and Kaduna.

A mid-term evaluation of the FUH campaign and NIFAA was conducted by CCPN to assess the effectiveness of this new institution and its program. The evaluation consisted of formative and early-impact analysis including data collection from 1132 respondents, fieldwork in three states and the capital city, and interviews with over 100 key informants.

1 The Advocacy, Communication and Social Mobilization Strategic Framework and Implementation Plan ACSM SF & IP- NMCP 2010


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CCPN conducted the formative and early impact analysis and Wise solutions LLC, based in Washington DC was responsible for using the findings to prepare a broader evaluation report.

2. Process- Project Activities

2.1 Formative research

The first major activity CCPN took part in was the Formative research carried out by MARS. With JHUCCP taking the lead with Rachel Weber as the lead facilitator, CCPN was present at the weeklong training for the field workers and the partners. The objective of the training was to train the field team trained on the questionnaire and procedures for collecting information. A major achievement was the translation of the survey instruments into the local languages (Gwandara and Igbira) and back translation into English language to avoid any misrepresentations. The instruments were largely qualitative and FGD and IDI where the methodologies employed. (See full report as Annex 2).


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2.3 Project

2.3.1 Strategy Meeting

Consequent upon signing of the contract between CCPN and Networks, preparations started for the communication strategy workshop. With support from NetWorks, CCPN initiated contact with the state government. The workshop was attended by the necessary stakeholders including Dr. Francis Akwash, Coordinator MAPS Nasarawa state, Mr. Emmanuel Nanche who represented the Hon Commissioner for Health, and National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) other RBM partners. See full strategy workshop document for details.

a. Technical Session

The technical session featured presentations by CCPN and NetWorks as the lead resource persons. First, it was an over view of the objectives of the workshop presented by Mrs. Funke Fagbemi. The second session on Behaviour Change Communication was equally handled by the same resource person. Other highlights include strategy outline, key benefits of change to the people, motivation to change, barrier to change etc. “Introduction to net care and repair behaviours” was presented by Gabrielle Hunter. The presentation defined what is meant by “Long lasting nets”; separating the drug on the net from the fabric

and stressing that it is the effect of the insecticide that is long lasting and not the net itself. It was noted that there is the need to address the misconception that one must wash nets very frequently, and also that washing the net reduces insecticide efficacy, necessitating retreatment. The NetWorks coordinator in Nigeria, Emmanuel Obi also shared some insights from the durability study. After the presentation by the resource person’s, participants filled a matrix on Net Care and Repair campaign messages. The message template, which was the first draft for messaging sought to address the following key areas namely:

a. Beliefs to promote b. Actions to promote c. Myths and misconceptions to address.

The matrices were reviewed at plenary where each presented its report for critique and adoption. After thorough deliberations, the submissions were harmonized.


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The plenary was later split into two groups with each given the responsibility of working on the two main strategies that would be employed for the campaign. These are the mass media group that worked on both the Print and electronic (Radio) and Interpersonal (community events) group.

b. Outputs

At the end of the strategy and media materials development workshop, the following were achieved:

• Communication strategy elements

• Five (5) finalized scripts for radio spot and one (1) endorsement script

• 5 demo radio spots were produced

• Five (5) posters

• One (1) Leaflet (FAQ)

• One (1) Community Discussion guide

• Netcare project Logo (A combination of the words NetWorks-“Net”; Care- “Ca”, and Repair “Re” giving the word NetCaRe)

• Slogan: NetCa(re)Re(pair): towards a malaria free community.

• Pretest Report (See full report as Annex 4).

2.4 Training of CHVs

Following the successful completion of the Strategy and Media Material Development workshop in Lafia, and the strategy document, the next activity was the identification, selection and training of the CHVs as the campaign foot soldiers. Preparation included developing the training manual, fine tuning the IPC activities, developing a realistic work plan and method for monitoring and managing the campaign. All outstanding BCC materials were also refined and produced.

a. Process The CHVs training started on the 26th of September, 2012 at the palace hall of the Abaga Toni. After an accreditation process during which potential CHVs were interviewed and given a final appraisal, the training commenced.


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The training was carried out exclusively by the Project Manager, who, was able to provide the correct context and impart the necessary knowledge and skills to the CHVs. The language of instruction was basically English and Hausa. The modules that the training explored included:

• Overview of community mobilization

• Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills

• Basic Information on Malaria

• Net care and repair campaign

• Roles and responsibilities

• Orientation on BCC materials and tools

• How to’s for Road Shows, Market Storms, and Community Dialogues

• Role plays and extensive discussions and clarifications

• Monitoring and Evaluation

• Campaign management

• CHV log book, documentation forms The campaign coordinators supported the training, which afforded the CHVs an opportunity to know one another and have a shared vision, which they are all working towards. For experiential learning there were a lot of role plays, which gave room for correction and comments on how to do things better on the field. Group work was another avenue for the individuals to be tested with responsibilities as members of the groups were made to present their assignment to the plenary. Before the training came to an end; there was a discussion about the logistics for the CHV. All questions about what support they would receive from CCPN were clarified. They were encouraged to do their best. (See full report in Annex 5)

b. Output

The major outputs for the training are:

• The list of all confirmed CHVs and their location (Settlements)

• Action plan forms designed for the community activities

• The activity logbook for the CHVs

• Training Manual


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2.5 Launching of the NetCaRe Campaign

a. Process The NetCaRe campaign 2013 was declared open by the First Lady of Nasarawa State, Hajia Salamatu Al Mankura on the 30th of October. The royal father, His Royal Highness, the Abaga Toni of Garaku, Dr. Sylvester O. Ayih, whose palace grounds served as the launch venue also graced the occasion with his presence.

Both Mr. Emmanuel Obi and Ms Andrea Brown spoke on behalf of NetWorks. They reiterated the importance of the support expected from the state and local government stakeholders and urged that all should be committed to this campaign as it is the first of its kind not only in Nasarawa state but in Nigeria as a whole. In her opening address, Hajia Salamatu Tanko

Almakura, the First Lady of Nasarawa state, thanked the facilitators of the programme, NetWorks and CCPN for such initiative in trying to modify behaviour of members of the LGA towards caring for their nets and repairing such when they have holes or tears in them. According to her, the government had done its part in distributing nets to households; the onus now rests on the members of the community and net users to imbibe that behaviour of caring for and repairing their nets so that families can have lasting protection from mosquitoes that cause malaria. She assured NetWorks and CCPN that the state would support this endeavor and her pet project, maternal and child health care would also be ready to collaborate. She charged all present to receive the CHVs and support them to make this campaign a success.

In his welcome address, Transitional Management Committee (TMC) chairman for the LGA, Hon. Jacob Okari Owa expressed his happiness over the choice of Kokona LGA as the pilot for NetCaRe Campaign in Nigeria. The presence of the First lady of the state, according to him has reinforced the commitment of the state and hence the importance of the project. He pledged his support. . He appealed to members of the communities present to imbibe the recommended net care and repair practices such that it becomes a culture so that the burden of malaria could be reduced in the LGA and by implication in the state. The Executive Director of CCPN, Mrs. Babafunke Fagbemi in her remarks explained the essence behind the campaign in general. She also gave an overview of the materials developed for the campaign and the


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activities communities should expect during the 6-month campaign period. According to her, radio jingles and endorsement would also be used to reach the intended audience. The audience had the pleasure of listening to the radio endorsement by the royal father of Garaku, the LGA HQ. There were good will messages from other partners that witnessed the occasion. These include

o IRS Nasarawa state o National Malaria Control Programme, FMoH o Hon. Commissioner for health

The media, considered a key partner in the campaign was well represented. They were presented the press kits. They include Nasarawa Broadcasting Service (NBS), Precious FM, Daily Trust, Eggon News and Union Chapter Representative. The Kit is attached in Annex 6. The advocacy kit too was distributed to distinguished guests (See Annex 6 for the Advocacy Kit).

The Special Guest of Honour, the First lady declared the campaign open, by unveiling the campaign materials and presenting kits to the CHVS. (T Shirt, Face caps, posters, handbooks and leaflets).

The vote of thanks was given by Hon . Umaru Musa Obakpa TMC Chairman Agwada Development Area of Kokona LGA. (See full report as Annex 7).

b. Outputs

• Secured the highest level of support from the state government with the launching by the wife of the state government

• Secured the buy-in of all partners in Nasarawa state as well as those of the traditional institution

• Had a good media coverage and community attendance for the campaign launch After the launch of the campaign, some of the health facilities that attend to antenatal needs were visited by the campaign team led by the Project Manager accompanied by the Local Government health educator and NetCaRe campaign materials handed over to the health workers. They distributed these to women who were eligible to receive a net and also provided the information about how to repair and care for their nets during health talks at the designated facilities

2.6 Meetings with CHVs

All through the period of the campaign, there were constant meetings with the CCs and the CHVs so as to get a prompt feedback and be able to respond in a timely manner should the need arise.

Shortly after the project launch, the CHVs and the CCs met for the first planning meeting. The PM reiterated that the CHVs were the most important actors in this campaign. He urged them all to be committed to this cause and clarified grey areas. Discussion went into how to collate feedback and effective use of the BCC materials.


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Meetings were also held periodically before and after community events to plan and prepare, get information, collect forms, seek clarification and ways for resolving challenges that were reported.

For example, before the take off of the market storms, the planning meeting provided a forum to discuss modalities for the activity and discuss evolving issues such as security, some communities in crisis and its implication on plans. A schedule for the market storms was drawn up. After each market storm, the coordinators usually meet with the CHVs and they agree on what worked well and what they needed to improve on.

2.7 Community Events

a. Community Dialogues The roll out of community events started with the community dialogues. The advocacy visits carried

out made access easy and CHVs had a smooth entry into the communities. Two volunteers each were assigned to each settlement, as time evolved and they gained the confidence of community members, they were able to take it a step further and conduct house to house visit to houses within each settlement. During these visits, they inspected nets,

supported repair of nets and provided one on one clarification as required. Over the initial period when the first round (this was immediately after the launch of the campaign and specifically in the first week of November 2012) of community dialogues was carried out in all the designated communities. The CHVs were guided by the discussion guides and the FAQs and key messages were treated one at a time. CHVs would start off by introducing themselves and stating their mission clearly. The fact that government had played its own part to protect them by providing free LLINs was always reiterated. CHVs would then go on to state that households had a responsibility to ensure the nets are used and well cared for so they can benefit optimally from the protection it offers. To establish a direct connection with the campaign, the CHVs then always talk about malaria (causes and prevention) and its effect on community members briefly before launching into messages on care and repair of nets. For each key message, such as gentle washing, rolling up when not in use, inspecting for holes and fixing small holes as soon as they are spotted, the CHV would always show the relevant BCC materials which are highly graphic. This would then be used to initiate discussions about what the community members need to do to care for and repair the nets. The FAQ was always handy for the CHVs to consult when questions come from members of the audience. it contains simple and easy to understand responses to possible questions the community members


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are most likely to ask. Most often, the CHVs try to follow the logical sequence of the messaging as it relates to caring for the net which involves washing, rolling up when not in use and inspecting for holes; and repair which included sewing, stitching and tying up the holes. About 1,900 community members were reached with messages on net care and repair through the first round of community dialogues. b. Market Storms Market Storm started early in the new year (2013) about 3 months after the commencement of the campaigns. Following the lessons learnt during the first round of community dialogues, there were improvements in coordination and execution of these community events. All logistics were properly taken care off to make sure the events went well. Take off point was Garaku and after the event, the team would come together for a useful time of reflections. Each subsequent market storm was always an improvement on the last one as recommendations or suggestions for improvement was always incorporated. One key improvement was the effective way of using the BCC materials such that whoever gets one will appreciate and use the material as expected. This way, the market storms kept improving in execution until all wards were covered.

These events took place in 11 wards rather than the 20 focal settlements. Thus, all CHVs within each ward came together to organize and stage the storm in the largest market identified within the ward. The first market storm took place at the Garaku main market and it was organized by four CHVs from both Angwa Gimba and Angwan Takwa. Other CHVs also participated with the CC’s, CCPN and STTA from

Baltimore took part in the first few storms. It was made more interesting by demonstrations of net repairs i.e. sewing. The market people were encouraged to participate in repairing torn nets and participation was appreciated by sharing some of the print BCC materials including the ‘My Net Care/Repair Plan” leaflet. At strategic points in the market, the CHV would address the audience and encourage the adoption of net care and repair practices. The CHVs also distributed BCC materials while also discussing about the benefits of caring and repairing their nets. The radio adverts and campaign endorsement by the Royal father of Garaku was played over the public address systems used to make announcements. By the time the market storms were over, it was estimated that about 8,903 members from the LGA have been reached with the net care and repair messages. This estimate is based on the completion of Event Reporting Forms by the CHVs and signed off by the campaign coordinators after each Market Storm.


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c. Road Shows Road shows started in April and just like market storms, the events were ward based. The plan was to have about 15 CHVs attend to support each event. Thus, the CCs did a rotational schedule of the road shows for the CHVs to support. In each ward, the road show goes through the major settlement with fanfare (music, announcement and campaign messages), while the CHVs distribute the handbills to all members of the community. The banners used during the market storms also came in handy as the CHVs hoist the big banner while the smaller one is tied to the side of the hired vehicle. This creates visibility for the campaign and the event. For reasons of time, all but one of the wards carried out the road show, i.e. 10 road shows were carried out in 10 wards. While carrying out the road shows, the second round of community dialogues were incorporated into these events. The 10 communities where the second round of community dialogues took place were (Angwan Takwa, Angwan Fade, Angwan Pah, Angwan Gimba, Angwan Kade, Dokan Daji, Bakin Ayeni, Amaha, Wadata and Kofan Gwari) .The local drama theatre also added value to these events. The combined total recorded number of people reached in these activities (Road Shows and Community Dialogues II) was estimated to be about 3,845. This estimate is based on the completion of Event Reporting Forms by the CHVs and signed off by the campaign coordinators after each Road Show. d. House Visits Though not part of the original plan, house visits was included to reach individuals on one on one basis. Individuals who have questions, challenges about repairing and caring for their nets could be reached. On record, an estimate of 1,875 members of communities were reached individually by the CHVs through the House-house visits. This number is considered an under estimate considering that some of the CHVs made house visits that they did not record. This estimate is based on the completion of House Visit Logs completed by the CHVs and signed off by the campaign coordinators.


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2.8 Song Contest

The final event held at community level is the song contests. A strategy to heighten community ownership, it was expected that this would contribute to making the campaign as sustainable as possible in the LGA. The preparations and planning started in December after the concepts were discussed in October.

By mid January, preparations went on in earnest and the modalities and methodology for the contest was agreed. The initial design was to have a village based song contest to select the best group to represent each community. After due consultation, it was decided that the communities be allowed to choose their representatives. It was decided that each community could use their own language, though it was recognized that Hausa, which is more universal, would be best for the contest. Eventually all the choral groups from the communities decided to use

Hausa language, which is widely understood by the whole LGA. Each musical group should not be less than 5 and not more than 10. They were guided about the coverage of the lyrics and were asked to use the key campaign messages to come up with net care and repair lyrics for the song contest. Once developed, the lyrics were reviewed for technical accuracy and completeness of message.

The CHVs were tasked to commence mobilizing their communities for this. The mobilization included engagement with the state government, the royal father of Garaku as well as the leadership at the LGA. An eventual date of 13th of April was agreed on.

On the 13th of April, all the settlements came along with their team for the contest and the contest was successfully held. All the expected guests were present and those who could not come sent their representatives. The media were equally not left out as they turned out very well and participated actively. Specifically, the media organizations represented were: Nasarawa Broadcasting Service (NBS), Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) Lafia and Eggon Newspaper all based in Lafia.


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a. Process

The song contest started just after 10.00 a.m on the day. After the necessary opening, numbers were

allocated to the teams for their presentation. The panel of judges developed and shared the rules guiding the competition. In a unanimous decision by the judges and the audience, Bakin Ayeni team was adjudged to be the best overall.

All the participating teams were given the NetCaRe T shirts as well as a plaque each, while the winning team got a plaque for the best performance. A pack of 10 LLINs was also given to each of the participating team. (See full report in annex 8)

b. Outputs

• Communities developed lyrics on net care and repair and turned this into a song. This will serve as an enter-educate format for learning correct facts about net care and repair.

• Media turnout was as anticipated as well as the broadcast of the event

• More than 500 participants were exposed to the messages of care and repair at a go during the contest

• It was an avenue to distribute few LLIN to each participating communities

3.0 Documentation

All through the campaign period due attention was paid to documentation in terms of reports; video recording, voice recordings as well as photographs to capture the different events.

3.1 Lessons Learnt The project has been a success as well as a learning experience. A number of lessons derived over time include the following:

• Early engagement with the state government helped to make things smooth. The state MoH and RBM unit made the necessary input into the campaign to make it a success; and this has reinforced the common belief that the government should never be taken for granted if there is a need for any intervention in the state


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• Nigeria has been affected by spates of violence for various reasons. In a multi ethnic setting such as Nasarawa state, the issue of security should be taken into considerations during planning for interventions. Sectarian violence and ethnic clashes would have marred the implementation of the community events but for innovative and proactive planning and prompt alternative plans

• Though the information used for planning was on the basis that communities had received mosquito nets, in some communities, these claims were refuted. It is not clear if the information about communities with nets was not accurate or the communities were being ‘innovative’ as a means to get additional nets. For some of the communities, CHVs felt insecure as they felt threatened by the community members whose requests was for their own consignment of nets. This was an area in which an average of 60% of houses received one net in 2011.Because the durability study baseline verified the presence of nets in each of the NetCaRe settlements, it is possible that nets were lost, given away, sold or worn out by the time the BCC activities began.

• The multimedia nature of the campaign ensured that those not reached with the in-person campaign activities may hear about the campaign on radio. While those that took part in the community events were able to report the events to their friends, neighbors and family members.

• The campaign enjoyed the services of two campaign coordinators. When it was realized that the field work would require two coordinators, but only one was budgeted for, NetWorks pitched in to supplement the budget by hiring a second coordinator. However only one was managed by CCPN and the other by NetWorks. This made it quite difficult for both coordinators to work as a team and this made supervision of the coordinator difficult.

• The song contest seemed a huge and impossible task considering the short time of the campaign, small number of the campaign team and the evolving security situation. However the success of this contest affirms the power of one. When communities decide to come together as one and unite for a cause.

• It was advantageous that the overall project was able to be flexible to pick up the costs of the song contest, without which it would not have been a reality.

• Engagement with the media really helped during the pilot stage of the campaign. However, limiting the engagement to just one radio organization was not the best and it could be quite restrictive if all did not go as planned or certain conditions were not met. Unfortunately, the design of the durability study does not permit the use of any other radio station in this pilot campaign, because all efforts must be made for the control LGA (Toto) to remain unexposed.

• Constant interactions with the STTA team was quite useful. Provided all with timely updates and allowed consensus to be reached on way forward.


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3.2 Recommendations

• Radio as a channel for message disseminations was quite helpful during the pilot stage. Until the result of the durability study is released, we might not be able to say with any degree of certainty that Toto LGA was totally shut out. It would be best if the same agency implementing the campaign at the community level handles the radio aspect of the campaign too. This will make for good monitoring

• It would be advisable to involve more than one media organizations to benefit from any empowerments that NetWorks would want to give media organizations collaborating with the project.

• While it cannot be decided how net distribution now would skew the result of the campaign during the pilot stage, it would be advisable that partners planning net distribution should quickly do that now in Kokona LGA if there is to be any follow up campaign in the same LGA.

• Critical campaign team staff should be budgeted for in advance and managed by one coordinating agency to avoid conflict and promote timely supervision and high quality of delivery

• The gains of the community song contest must be capitalized on. The winning song should be made popular and serve as an entry into evolving an Enter educate aspect of this campaign in going forward. Other elements that will promote community engagement and participation must be incorporated in the next phase of the campaign

• Collaboration with the health workers at the designated health facilities that attend to pregnant women and under five children should be made more systematic.

• While the pilot phase utilized a menu of IPC formats, it is possible to identify best and most effective formats and take these options forward.

List of Annexes

1. Preliminary meetings 2. Formative Study Training Report 3. Strategy Workshop report 4. Pretest Report 5. CHVs Training Report 6. Advocacy Kit 7. Campaign Launching report 8. Song Contest Report

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