Senegal: Reaching Men Campaign

Dates: 1997-2000

• Overview
• Partners
• Objectives
• Target Audience
• Activities
• Outputs
• Impact

Overview

Under the Child Survival and Family Planning Project (FY94-2000), The Johns Hopkins University/Population Communication Services (JHU/PCS) conducted Behavior Change Communication (BCC) interventions to support USAID strategic objective 3:

Increased and sustainable use of reproductive health and STI/HIV/AIDS services in the context of decentralization in targeted areas.

To achieve IR.2- Increased demand for quality child survival, maternal health, family planning and sexually transmitted diseases/HIV/AIDS services, JHU/PCS BCC interventions in Senegal focused on encouraging men to get involved in family health issues, particularly family planning and child survival. Only 19 percent of men who are in a relationship in urban areas and four percent in rural areas use a modern method of contraception. Married men with two or three children are more likely to begin using a method than are those with no children or more than three. Seventy-six percent of non-users have no intention to do so in the future (DHS III, p.119, 121). One man in four claims religion as a main reason for not using contraception. Given this compelling data, the project developed a Reaching Men multimedia campaign combining several strategies:

• FP advocacy with Islamic religious leaders to obtain their participation in promoting family planning among men and women
• Multimedia family health and family planning (FP) campaign for men using both television and radio spots and a radio drama series.
• Community mobilization events including concerts and sporting events for young men and conferences and group discussions for religious leaders.

Partners

• Ministry of Health/National Reproductive Health Services
• National Association of Imams and Oulemas
• Réseau Islam et Population
• Réseau des journalistes en population
• Réseau des parlementaires
• Local radio stations.

Objectives

The Reaching Men Campaign aimed to:

• Increase from 21% to 31% the number of men who discuss family planning with their spouses.
• Increase from 32% to 50% the number of men who use family planning.
• Increase men's knowledge about the favorable attitude of Islam towards family planning.

Target Audience

Men; Religious leaders; Young men; community outreach workers

Activities

To empower the heads of the major Senegalese Islamic brotherhoods to raise awareness among their followers, of the favorable position of Islam on family planning and the advantages of using modern family planning, several activities were conducted:

Islam and Family Planning symposia
The Religious leaders component of the Reaching Men multimedia FP campaign began in July 1997 with two symposia targeting and largely attended by parliamentarians and religious leaders. These symposia resulted in a series of recommendations for integration in the National Family Planning Workplan.

Interpersonal Communication and Counseling training for Religious leaders
Qualitative research on men's attitudes and perceptions (including religious leaders) was conducted during 1997 and permitted the National Family Planning BCC team to develop appropriate messages and identify appropriate strategies for the Reaching Men Campaign. Under a subcontract with the Réseau Islam et Population, during FY99 JHU/PCS undertook the training of religious leaders. Two IPC workshops were conducted for 40 religious leaders from the districts of Kaolack and Louga to empower them to address their constituents on Family Planning issues.

Television documentary on Islam and Family Planning
A 30-minute television documentary on Islam and Family Planning was produced following the launch of the Reaching Men campaign. The documentary features interviews with key religious figures responding to questions on Islam and family planning asked by men and women in local communities.

BCC kit for religious leaders
The kit is comprised of:

• Informational cue cards in French and Arabic on demographics (maternal health, infant mortality and family planning), Hadiths and Coranic texts in favor of family planning, and a description of modern family planning methods
• Booklet of Islamic wisdom on family planning in French and Arabic;
• Guide for group discussions on Islam and family planning;
• Audiocassette featuring commonly asked questions and answers on Islam and family planning from key Islamic leaders.

The Religious Leaders' kit was launched in July 2000 at an official ceremony in Kaolack presided by the governor of Kaolack, with more than 500 persons in attendance: opinion and religious leaders from Kaolack and Louga, and ASBEF, APAPS, UNICOM, IKHRA, Réseau des Journalistes en Population, GEEP, CAEF, AVSC, DPRH, ACDEV, Projet de Promotion des Jeunes, and Réseau des Parlementaires en Population. Representatives from ANIOS, RIP, SNSR, and the medical district of Kaolack and USAID presented a total of 300 kits to the representatives of the various brotherhoods. Media coverage of this ceremony was extensive on the part of both regional and national stations: Walfradjri, Sud-FM, and RTS. In addition, reportage and a TV-magazine ("journal parlé" in Wolof and in french, the Wer Gi Yaram show, etc.) were broadcast on national television. At the end of the ceremony, in light of the high interest in the kit, the RIP decided to expand its distribution. RIP organized a colloquium, "Regards croisés sur le point de vue de l'Islam en matière de santé reproductive," inviting representatives of the fundamentalist movements to join in the debates, and distributed an additional 200 kits.

Conferences
In FY 2000 conferences entitled "Le rôle de l'homme dans le bien-être familial" (Men's role in family welfare) were held in Kaolack (April) and Louga (May) to discuss men's role in family health. Invited guests included well-respected Imams, Oulemas, Dahira (Islamic school) teachers, Arab language teachers and various youth and women associations.

Community Activities
Religious leaders conducted traditional tea debates on family planning, home visits and group discussions in the surrounding neighborhoods and villages in their respective districts.

Media Activities
Under the subcontract with the Réseau Islam et Population (RIP), radio programs were produced by representatives of RIP in Kaolack and Louga with Sud-FM. The interactive programs allowed listeners to clarify their information on the position of family planning in Islam

Outputs

• 2 Symposia held. Participants included parliamentarians and religious leaders.
• Interpersonal communication (IPC) manual about family planning.
• 30-minute television documentary on Islam and Family Planning broadcast three times on national television, produced in collaboration with the National Association of Imams and Oulemas (ANIOS).
• Two conferences in Louga and Kaolack on the role of men in the family as seen by Islam.
• 1,000 Informational kit on family planning for religious leaders developed, printed and distributed.

Impact

• A total of 40 religious leaders were trained to further orient religious relays from their congregations to conduct in their district, community outreach activities aiming to educate communities on the advantage of family planning and advocate for the use of Family planning services.
• Political and religious leaders' support for Family planning increased interest for family planning among Men and Women in the districts of Louga and Kaolack.

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