Juntos Decidimos Cuando: "Together We Decide When" - A Nicaraguan Youth Campaign

Project Dates: 1997-1998

• Overview
• Campaign Impact

Overview

In June of 1997, the Nicaraguan Interagency Commission for Reproductive Health launched the first national communication campaign intended for adolescents and young adults between the ages of 15 and 24. The objective of the campaign was to contribute to the reduction of adolescent pregnancy in Nicaragua, which the 1992/93 Family Health Survey had revealed as having one of the highest rates in Latin America. The campaign ended in February 1998.

The campaign messages promoted being responsible and sharing decisions on matters of sexuality and relationships. A youthful logo representing a young couple and the slogan "Together We Decide When" was produced, to symbolize the campaign and identify providers (public and private) where youth could seek services and information.

Campaign Impact

A battery of questions were included in the 1998 Nicaraguan DHS to measure exposure to the campaign, assess understanding of the messages, and gauge actions taken in response to the campaign. Exposure to the campaign and its logo were high, with 69% to 73% of the intended audience recognizing the campaign logo and 69% to 71% having heard the campaign slogan. These numbers were also relatively high among non-intended audience members.

Campaign impact can also be shown in the actions taken by audience members. Of those interviewed, as a result of exposure to the campaign 83% of males and 89% of females reported talking with someone about the campaign messages.

For singles, the most common responses of actions taken after "talking to someone", were to:

1. avoid pregnancy;

2. delay union;

3. avoid sex; and

4. discuss FP with partner. These related very closely to the objectives of increasing knowledge of the benefits of postponing first pregnancy and avoiding sexual activity in consensual unions.

For ever-married respondents, the most common responses after "talking to someone" were to:

1. avoid pregnancy; and

2. discuss FP with partner. The responses "delay union" and "avoid sex" accounted for only 5% or less percent of respondents. Again the responses for this group related to the specific audience objectives: increase knowledge of the benefits of birth spacing; increasing the use of reproductive health services, including family planning and pre and post natal care, and increase the number of users of temporary family planning methods.