Jiamini! Campaign

Although there has been a steady increase in contraceptive use in Tanzania, the country’s total fertility rate remains high at 5.4 children per woman, and only 24% of women age 15-49 use a modern method of family planning. Childbearing in Tanzania begins early; 28% of women have given birth by age 18, 55% by age 20 and 88% by age 25. The majority of married women want to space or limit their number of children; while 21% of currently married women report wanting to have another child within the next two years, 44% want to delay their next birth for two or more years, and 26% do not want any more children.

It is within this context that the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, with the support of JHU∙CCP’s Tanzania Capacity and Communication Project and funding from USAID, have developed the Jiamini! (Be confident!) family planning campaign.

Jiamini! is a national campaign designed to empower women to initiate use of modern methods of family planning and encourage male support of family planning. It targets women and couples who want to delay their first pregnancy, wait to have their next child or stop having children, but who are not currently using a modern method of family planning. By using testimonials from famous Tanzanians using modern methods of family planning, the campaign aims to:
• Increase confidence in the target audience’s ability to initiate and continue use of modern methods of family planning
• Address myths, misconceptions and fears about family planning
• Encourage couple communication around family planning
• Improve male partner support of family planning
• Increase use of modern methods of family planning

Jiamini! hit Tanzania’s airwaves on April 2, 2012. Key campaign channels include radio spots, TV spots, discussion time on radio talk shows, articles and adverts in Femina Hip’s Si Mchezo! and Fema magazines, an episode of Femina Hip's Fema TV Talk Show, and six episodes of MiniBuzz, a daily 30-minute current affairs television program shot in a public minibus, in which passengers are filmed discussing and debating issues affecting their lives. All campaign channels refer listeners, readers and viewers to FHI360’s Mobile for Reproductive Health (m4RH) text message platform for more information about family planning methods and service delivery points.