From the moment we held the first International Social and Behavior Change Communication Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 2016, we haven’t looked back. That gathering set the course for what has become a vital and highly anticipated event in the field, a conference truly devoted to social and behavior change that brings together voices of youth and voices of experience from all parts of the globe.

 

In the wake of COVID-19, Ebola and the Zika outbreak, more focus than ever is on the importance of strong and resilient health systems that serve and promote the well-being of individuals, households and communities. Engaging in social and behavior change communication (SBCC) preparedness efforts as part of strengthening a health system, and certainly prior to a critical incident, can bolster a health system’s ability to respond to an emergency public health crisis.

Similar to the resource library here at SIE Society, the Health Communication Capacity Collaborative (HC3 for short) has assembled a massive collection of resources that teach SBCC practitioners and outsiders how to responsibly implement and successfully execute SBCC strategies. Guides in this library vary in length, but many of them are 10+ pages long and provide a plethora of information.

This is a summary report of the largest SBBC event in history with 1,200 attendees in 2018. There were talks on behavioral economics, big data, entertainment-education, human-centered design, measurement and evaluation and so much more. A week at the Summit was truly a crash course in the best our field has to offer. And that was just what filled the program.

This report examines the role of Communication for Development in the work of UNICEF, presenting its framework, guiding principles and the strategic context for its implementation. It also compiles best practices and innovations of strategies, activities and tools that have been successful in engaging children, youth and adults to effect positive social and behaviour change.

For four days in February 2016, more than 750 SBCC professionals from over 50 countries came together in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to share knowledge, disseminate recent research and tools, to generally enhance the science and art of SBCC for global health and development. These are their insights.