Overview

The “Bienvenue aux Changements dans la Communauté” (Welcome to Changes in the Community) program led by the International Medical Corps (IMC), uses behavior change communication to change attitudes about gender, and reduce the impact of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The program operates in six areas across North and South Kivu. In North Kivu the program is active in the city of Goma and the rural villages of Walikale and Chambucha. In South Kivu, the program operates in the city of Bukavu and the rural sites of Kalonge and Bunyakiri. JHU•CCP provides technical assistance in three areas: research and evaluation, strategy development, and capacity building.

Accomplishments

• Conducted qualitative formative research on attitudes towards SGBV in eastern DRC.
• Provided IMC with technical assistance in working with staff to plan and develop a joint vision, root cause analysis and determine activities for project year 2 based on formative research findings.
• Provided IMC with tools related to strategic behavior change communication (SBCC) including strategy and materials development guides among others.
• Conducted and analyzed the results of a baseline theory-based population survey.
• Conducted a communication strategy development workshop leading to the development of an SBCC campaign implementation plan, slogan and logo.
• Trained BCC community mobilizers to build community networks against SGBV.