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Behavior Change CommunicationCenterpiece Materials | Campaigns
As part of a larger Male Involvement in Family Planning Campaign, the USAID-funded, Johns Hopkins University Delivery of Improved Services for Health (DISH) II Project produced the community radio program "Nze N'Owange", which translates as "Me and My Partner". Representatives of the Uganda Ministry of Health, DISH project, and USAID/Kampala recently identified Nze N’Owange as a best practice. To be defined as a best practice, a project must be innovative and/or an improvement and/or set a precedent; there must be evidence of positive impact; have a sustainable effect on the intended audience; and have potential for replication. Nze N’Owange was identified as a best practice based on its success as a low-cost community event, which was then recorded and turned into a series of equally successful low-cost radio shows. The community radio program contains music and interviews that emphasize the importance of couple communication in making family planning decisions. It has been broadcast on Ugandan radio station, CBS, one night a week since January 2001. The program is broadcast in Luganda in the 12 DISH II project districts. Fifty-two, 45-minute interactive community game shows have been conducted in 26 communities. The program is recorded in rural communities and in each community married couples compete to see which couple knows the most about each other. Objectives of the Community Radio Program:
Combined Media
The DISH project hired the Group Africa Mobile Promotion Unit to conduct 52, 45-minute interactive community game shows in a total of 26 communities. Contestants for the shows were married couples living within those communities. In each community the game show played twice, in separate locations. The District Health Educator and local leaders displayed posters and distributed flyers inviting couples to audition for the show. During auditions, the radio presenter identified couples with a good stage presence. Four couples were then selected a week prior to the event, in each of the 52 locations. To get the audiences excited about the game show, first the Group Africa Mobile Unit performed skits on male involvement in family planning and on Pilplan (the contraceptive pill) and Injectaplan (the injectable contraceptive). The game show then started with a catchy jingle with messages encouraging couples to talk about family planning and other health issues. Four couples were invited to the stage where the presenter then asked each couple to take seats beside one another and explained the rules of the game. The husbands are taken to a soundproof area where they cannot hear what their wives are saying. The wives answer questions about their families and relationships with their husbands. The husbands come back to the stage and answer the same questions. The couple that has the same answers to most of the questions is selected as the winner. The winning couple receives a prize such as a radio, phone, or mattress. The show then ends with the presenter encouraging husbands and wives to take an interest in each other and to talk openly with one another ("Kirungi okwogeraganya"). The presenter also announces when the audience can listen to the radio broadcast of the game show. The crew encourages the audience to ask questions on issues discussed during the show. Newsletters called "Health Matters" on male involvement and other print materials are distributed.
A promotional spot for the radio broadcast of the community game show was aired four times daily a week before the broadcast to market the program, and continued to be aired after the program as well. A 15-minute version of the pre-recorded community game show was broadcast each week from January to July, 2001. A total of 52 radio programs were aired. The program began by welcoming people to the show, mentioning the prizes to be awarded and who donated the prize, and continuing with a catchy jingle and the pre-recorded community game show. Target Audience and Coverage Each radio program was expected to reach an estimated 300,000 women and 500,000 men in the 12 project districts, which is approximately 9 million Ugandans. The radio program actually reached far more people that expected, because men and women in non-DISH project districts listened to the program. Impact
Self-professed impact of the programs among listeners:
Health workers in the areas where Nze N’Owange took place reported that many people requested to have the radio program re-broadcast. During the community game show, audience members said that the game showed the importance of communication in all aspects of decision making. Before seeing the show many did not think that communicating with their partners on family planning issues was important. The children of winning couples were excited about the prizes which included items like radios and mattresses. Many children in Uganda do not sleep on mattresses. Contestants were happy to hear their voices on the radio and became local celebrities in their respective communities. The project involved many partners: the DISH project, radio stations, Group Africa Mobile Promotion Unit, local leaders, and local businesses who donated prizes. Nze N’Owange used media popular to men such as radio. It also used music to attract big audiences and teach them about family planning through quizzes, competitions, music and dancing. It was an innovative project in that it used a community approach coupled with mass media (radio and print).
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