Humanitarian Action for Children 2021
Communication for development (C4D)
UNICEF continued with its pivotal role in supporting the Ministry of Health, other line ministries and partners
including UN agencies, international and national NGOs, CSOs, faith-based organizations (FBOs) and the
private sector, in promoting positive behavioural practices towards mitigating and preventing diseases and other
emergencies across the country. A participatory approach and partner engagement in planning for C4D proved
crucial for buy-in, ownership and strategic support.
As a co-lead of the Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) TWG, UNICEF scaled up its risk
communication, social mobilization, and community engagement activities in 2021 to address COVID-19
prevention response, the COVAX Facility vaccine roll out, Polio outbreak response, prevention of malnutrition
in six food insecure areas, flood response and safe reopening of schools.
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UNICEF supported partners with its evidence-based communication and community engagement programming
reaching a total of 7,579,988 people with integrated lifesaving messages - including on COVID-19
with a
focus on promoting demand for services and creating an enabling environment to address social norms.
Messages and engagement helped to build the capacity of caregivers and parents to protect themselves and
their children in light of communicable diseases.
UNICEF together with National and State Ministries of Health, County Health Departments (CHDs) and partners
supported implementation of phased COVID-19 vaccine roll out with RCCE and social mobilization across the
country. A national communication strategy for COVID-19 vaccines, communication materials and aids, and
training modules were developed in collaboration with the RCCE TWG and national COVID-19 Vaccination
TWG.
Different community engagement strategies and communication platforms reached over 7.5 million individuals
(in line with the target) with COVID-19 vaccine promotion messages, including 15,195 (5,471 women; 9,724
men) community/religious leaders. Community gate keepers are catalysts in creating an enabling environment
for positive change in social norms and included a South Sudan Council of Churches network with teachers and
women pastors. Interpersonal and group communication were delivered through 1,801 (424 women; 1,377 men)
trained Integrated Community Mobilization Network (ICMN) mobilizers reaching 540,300 households with
lifesaving messages. Further, 30 radio stations broadcast a weekly cycle of jingles and talk-shows in over 10
languages reaching 40 per cent of the population, educating and creating demand for COVID-19 vaccination.
The use of the ICMN has grown exponentially and was key to engaging the community. These structures act
as innovators for the community, overcoming the impact of COVID-19 restrictions and the digital gap.
The campaign used gender-responsive approaches to address the challenge of low female uptake of COVID-
19 vaccines through evidence generation and actionable recommendations such as providing women easy
access to the vaccines, dissemination of testimonies from influential women promoting vaccines, broadcast of
recorded voices from women role models, and dissemination of gender-specific key messages. This resulted in
increased female uptake from 25 per cent in Phase I of the campaign, to 40 per cent in Phase III (December
2021). Knowledge, Attitude and Practices (KAP) studies revealed that 87 per cent of respondents expressed
willingness to receive COVID-19 vaccines. To better understand the concerns and fears around COVID-19
vaccine acceptance among health workers, an Internet of Good Things (IoGT) (UNICEF's light internet-based
platform with a set of free, mobile-ready resources and applications) survey was conducted among 612 health
workers.
In continuation of the response to the 2020 Polio outbreak, with 55 cases of circulating vaccine-derived
poliovirus type 2 (CVDPV2) in 27 counties, two rounds of monovalent oral polio vaccine type 2 (mOPV2) were
implemented, vaccinating 1,489,826 and 1,218,546 under-five children respectively. A mop-up round was held,
vaccinating a total of 2,717,133 children nationwide (98% of the target). The campaigns were supported with
nationwide communication, social mobilization and community engagement interventions reaching 92.4 per
cent social mobilization coverage as per the Post Campaign Evaluation (PCE). As part of monthly regular ICMN
interventions, 2,000 routine immunization interaction sessions were conducted reaching 226,947 households.
Through household visits, the ICMN mobilizers traced a total of 10,400 defaulter children aged under one years,
who were subsequently followed up to complete their immunization schedules.
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