Author(s)

ABU HASIB MOSTAFA JAMAL, ZEENAT SULTANA, A. K. SHAFIQUR RAHMAN

Abstract

Over the years, Bangladesh Center for Communication Programs (BCCP) has been working on Behaviour Change Communication (BCC) and Community Mobilization for Bangladesh communities; BCCP is partnering with NGO Health Service Delivery Project (NHSDP), that delivers essential healthcare services across the country through a network of 25 NGOs covering 15% of the total population through Surjer Hashi (SH) clinics. BCCP is working with NHSDP on community mobilization for reaching out to different stakeholders, creating partnerships in order to identity community resources, health needs and promoting health seeking behaviour at household level. To accelerate community ownership and demonstrate role of the stakeholders in mobilizing resources for promoting model community action - a series of activities had been carried out under a community congregation named “Health Fair”; which was planned, organized and facilitated by community groups. This was an interactive event showcasing health messages and listening to community voices. A total of 25 Health Fairs had been held. With community involvement, the NGOs leveraged social capital, volunteerism, government ownership and private stakeholders’ involvement. The perception analysis of attending audiences showed this as a highly successful event where 79.5% respondents commented this as useful for them, 95.7% were willing to share information with others and 99% thought that this kind of fair should be arranged in future. The participation of the communities is key to the success. Creating community ownership can work for discovering and unfolding of the community resources for the sustainability of health promotion.

Keywords

community, stakeholders, mobilization, action, resource, ownership, sustainability, health, involvement, promotion