The Abstinence and Risk Avoidance for Youth Program (ARK), a five-year project funded by PEPFAR, was launched in Kenya, Tanzania, and Haiti to address abstinence and mutual faithfulness for HIV prevention. Led by World Vision, the project focused on HIV prevention among girls age 10-24, with a secondary focus on boys of the same age. Parents, teachers, religious and traditional leaders, service providers, and other adults that interact with youth also benefited from ARK’s efforts. CCP supported the project by conducting trainings to help youth and adults form action groups and conduct outreach in their communities, using materials and tools developed by ARK. CCP designed training for youth on message development and script writing. CCP utilized radio spots, interactive discussions and listener groups to engage experts and lay people to discuss ARK messages.
Featured Projects
Advance Family Planning (AFP) is an evidence-based, three-year effort designed to help developing countries achieve universal access to reproductive health (MDG 5b). It aims to revitalize family planning programs through increased and more effective funding, and improved policy commitments at the local, national, and global levels. AFP is supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. The AFP Consortium is led by the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health Bill & Melinda Gates Institute. Partners include the Center for Communication Programs at JHU, African Women’s Development Fund, Partners in Population and Development, and Futures Group International.
AFP’s goal is to increase funding and improve policy commitments at all levels of national governments, among bilateral and multilateral donors, and the private sector. It builds on past investments and ongoing activities in reproductive health advocacy, leadership development, knowledge generation, and innovative service delivery projects.
The project focuses on providing policy makers with evidence on why family planning is a sound investment with dividends in terms of health, socio-economic development, the environment, and other areas. The message and the messengers will reflect each country’s situation and the interests of those policy makers.
Communication and Malaria Initiative in Tanzania (COMMIT) is Tanzania’s flagship behavior change communication (BCC) program for malaria. It is a five year project funded by USAID and the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI). CCP leads COMMIT in partnership with Jhpiego, Population Services International (PSI), the Research Triangle Institute (RTI), PMI and the Tanzania Ministry of Health and National Malaria Control Program (NMCP). The program is implementing a comprehensive strategy for behavior change and communication in the prevention and case management of malaria in mainland Tanzania. Specifically, COMMIT supports the NMCP Communication Strategy objectives of (1) influencing positive behavior change among target audiences through a comprehensive approach, (2) improving the flow of information to key target audiences, and (3) advocacy to raise the profile of malaria.
The Regional Outreach Addressing AIDS through Development Strategies (ROADS) project, a three-year project funded by USAID, addressed HIV prevention along the transport corridors of East Africa. Led by Family Health International (FHI), ROADS aimed to reduce HIV transmission, improve care, and reduce the impact of HIV and AIDS along Kenya and Uganda’s highways. CCP assisted ROADS in strengthening the institutional and technical capacity of implementing partners, as well as HIV and AIDS professionals. CCP developed approaches and tools for emerging issues, such as alcohol abuse and gender-based violence, and built the capacity of community-based partners to implement effective community outreach.
Research to Prevention (R2P) is a five-year HIV prevention project funded by USAID. R2P is led by the Johns Hopkins Center for Global Health and managed by CCP. R2Ppartners with faculty throughout the Johns Hopkins Schools of Public Health, Medicine and Nursing, as well as Tulane University, the Medical University of South Carolina, and the University of North Carolina. R2P seeks to answer the question: What are the most effective interventions for preventing the spread of HIV? R2P aims to promote greater use of evidence in the design and implementation of HIV prevention programs in countries most affected by the HIV epidemic. In partnership with organizations in developing countries, R2P will conduct research to identify the most effective interventions for preventing HIV, promote increased use of data to guide programs and policies, and build capacity for applied research among health professionals.
Strategic Radio Communication for Development (STRADCOM), a five-year project funded by USAID/US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), supports the Tanzanian Government’s fight against HIV/AIDS by providing high quality radio programming to the public. Led by CCP, in partnership with Media for Development International (MFDI), STRADCOM combines best practices and innovative radio programming on HIV/AIDS while developing collaborative relationships with government agencies, other USG PEPFAR partners, and international and local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working in HIV/AIDS in Tanzania.
TCCP is a five-year, USAID-funded project led by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Communication Programs (CCP). TCCP is working in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare – National AIDS Control Program for AIDS. Other major stakeholders are the Tanzania Commission for AIDS, MOHSW Reproductive and Child Health Section (RCHS), regional and local Governments, other United States Government organizations, Media for Development International, CARE Tanzania and local non-government organizations and private sector organizations. TCCP’s vision is a Tanzania where people take charge of their own health, thus creating healthy households where individual changes in health lead to healthier families and communities. TCCP’s areas of focus include HIV prevention, reproductive health and maternal and child health.
The Achievement and Maintenance of Comprehensive Coverage (AMCC) is a four year to assist the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Tanzania Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MOHSW) achieve the goal of effective, and comprehensive distribution of Long Lasting Insecticide Treated Nets (LLINs) throughout specified areas of Tanzania.
The program is lead by the Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) with CCP, World Vision International (WVI) and Population Services International (PSI) as partners.
CCP is involved in the BCC Component – Behavior Change Communication (BCC) to increase awareness and ensure consistent use of LLINs: The behavior change component of this project builds on years of effective communication and messaging promoted by the MOH and delivered by CCP and PSI. Both of these organizations understand the cultural and social barriers and facilitators for Insecticide Treated Net (ITN) use and have developed effective strategies to mitigate the barriers. Through a carefully selected combination of messages and media, maximum message reach and impact will be achieved. The BCC component will be implemented through a 2-pronged approach that highlights the complimentary roles of CCP and PSI. CCP will be responsible for the overarching BCC campaign that will include the message harmonization among all malaria partners in Tanzania, norms changing, and national and local media and materials.
The Hib Initiative (Hib), a two-year project funded by GAVI/The Vaccine Fund, aimed to expedite and sustain evidence-informed decisions regarding Hib vaccination to prevent childhood meningitis and pneumonia. Hib is a consortium of four partners: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, WHO and CDC. Hib focuses on three strategic areas to support evidence-based decisions at the country level: coordination, communication and research. CCP conducted global, regional and country level communication activities to accelerate the introduction and uptake of Hib vaccine.
Voices for a Malaria-Free Future (Voices) is a pioneering malaria advocacy project operating in Mali, Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda, the United States, and at the global partnership level. Funded by the Gates Foundation, Voices works to galvanize governments and partner organizations toward effective malaria control efforts and cultivate malaria champions around the world. Malaria endemic country advocacy emphasizes increased political will, improved policies, stronger management and coordination, while harmonizing with global malaria partnership-building and advocacy in the U.S. for increased malaria funding. Voices leads an integrated, international campaign of advocacy activities to incite and complement advances toward malaria eradication.
Voices III: Malaria Powerbrokers is the third iteration of the advocacy project, Voices for a Malaria-Free Future (2006-2009, 2009-2011), which seeks to mobilize political and popular support for malaria control through a variety of strategies and campaigns in four countries—Ghana, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda. Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the project has worked to expand national movements of powerful private and public sector leaders to resolve malaria control challenges linked to policies, funding and implementation.
