SOCIAL MOBILIZATION: AN APPROACH TO REDUCING POVERTY · SOCIAL MOBILIZATION: AN APPROACH TO...

Health for all and all for health • Santé pour tous et tous pour la santé Salud para todos y todos para la salud •人人享有健康一切为了健康 Здоровье для всех и все для здоровья • الصحة للجميع والجميع للصحة

National Health and Family Planning Commission of the People’s Republic of China

SOCIAL MOBILIZATION: AN APPROACH TO REDUCING POVERTY

Ambassador Juli Endee Culture Ambassador and Traditional Queen,

Republic of Liberia Executive Director, Liberia Crusaders for Peace

Health for all and all for health • Santé pour tous et tous pour la santé Salud para todos y todos para la salud • •人人享有健康一切为了健康 Здоровье для всех и все для здоровья • الصحة للجميع والجميع للصحة


Brief Backdrop of LCP

The Liberia Crusaders for Peace (LCP) is a legally registered non-profit organization in Liberia founded in 1994. To date, the LCP has over 22-years of experience implementing social development programs with established networks in all fifteen counties of Liberia.

Mission: To promote health, peace, tolerance, human rights,

reconciliation and culture development in Liberia through advocacy, social mobilization, community engagement, and outreach programs.

Vision:

Creating an enabling environment where people living in vulnerable communities in Liberia will have the opportunity to have access to information about preventable diseases, fight poverty; embrace peace and reconciliation and respect for human dignity.



The Potential of Social Mobilisation and Community Engagement in Addressing the Complex Challenge of Poverty: Key Social Mobilization Success Factors

Communities are energized to engage and participate in a processes, structures and activities to achieve a common goal of poverty alleviation;

Employ bi-directional communication to inform and empower groups by building human capacity in communities to fight poverty and diseases;

Creates and increases demand for poverty reduction interventions services;

Greater self-awareness and social consciousness transforms increase demand into action to access available basic social services ( such as heath, education, food security, social support, etc..) which are key factors to poverty alleviation; and

Gives a sense of ownership and self motivation for community actions

Promoting health, promoting sustainable development:it’s our health, our future and

our choice.


The Role of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Poverty Elimination

Complement national intervention efforts in alleviating poverty;

Initiate social development programs that positively impact the lives of people;

Build linkages between communities and social services through social mobilization, capacity building and awareness raising programs;

Bring people together to discuss and share information on critical issues that affect their lives;

Build and sustain trust among diverse community stakeholders to enhance community capacity to fight poverty;

Identify poor communities, analyze social issues and mobilize resources to empower communities themselves to solve problems; and

Facilitate community participation and decision-making to address social and economic problems.


our choice.


LCP’s Social Mobilization and Community Engagement Methodologies/Approaches

Interpersonal Communication and door-to-do social mobilization (using field Communicators and Social Mobilizers in the Communities);

Production and airing of customized messages in jingles and dramas in English and local languages; action oriented

Mass media education and awareness (radio, TV, and newspaper); Develop, produce and distribute behavioral change messages

employing IEC/BCC strategies using tailored made materials (flyers, banners, posters, and Frequently Asked Questions-FAQs);

Carefully crafted community entry strategies and ownership platforms; Advocacy and community engagement stakeholders meetings and

forums; Established network with traditional, religious, and community leaders; Street theater performance through mobile moving stage with public

address (PA) system mounted on vehicle

Benefits of Social Mobilization and Community Engagement in Poverty Reduction Increases community, individual, and group capacity to identify and address their

needs; Increases community participation and ownership of programs to achieve

sustainable results; Creates an enabling environment in which individuals and communities can

empower themselves to take poverty alleviation action; and Improves poverty intervention programme design, quality, results and evaluation.

In English & Liberian Vernaculars


our choice.


Successful Social Mobilization and Community Engagement Projects/Programs Ebola prevention through social mobilization and community

engagement funded by UNICEF Liberia; Ebola vaccines clinical research studies facilitated through social

mobilization and community engagement funded by Leidos Boimedical, Inc., USA;

National Dead Body Oral Swabbing to break the Ebola transmission funded by WHO Liberia;

Community health structure preparedness, strengthening and rejuvenation social mobilization and community engagement program (ECAP 1 & 2) funded by USAID/MercyCorps

Children vaccination and immunization rates significantly increased through community action; examples: measles, polio, and yellow fever ; funded by UNICEF Liberia

Social mobilization and awareness in promotion of the poverty reduction strategy (Liberia’s Vision 2030) with Governance Commission of Liberia

Promotion of hygiene, nutrition, and complementary feeding funded by OICI ;

HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention funded by MoH/National AIDS-STIs Control Program (NACP);

Civic education on democracy, rule of law and human rights project funded by The Carter Center Liberia

Social awareness on community forestry rights project funded by USAID/Liberia PROSPER


our choice.


Challenges and Lessons Learned: Liberian Context

Epidemic- preparedness and continuous social mobilization and community engagement is the key to prevention;

The porous nature of the West African countries’ borders facilitates disease outbreaks and the spread of infectious diseases that do not require passports;

An ingrained social, religious, cultural, traditions, beliefs, and values may impede or facilitate successful social mobilization and community engagement interventions;

Poor infrastructure and the prevalence of difficult to reach communities also may hinder timely engagement of all target groups or communities;

Continuous capacity building of field or frontline agents to adequately respond to threat

Proper community entry and ownership is crucial to success;

Bottom-to-top approach is effective in galvanizing all key national and community stakeholders; and

Synchronized well-coordination of all intervention activities is necessary to prevent duplication of efforts.


our choice.

THANK YOU

SOCIAL MOBILIZATION: AN APPROACH TO REDUCING POVERTY · SOCIAL MOBILIZATION: AN APPROACH TO...

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