Social and behavior change communication
With thanks to Global Health Now. https://globalhealthnow.org/
'What connection looks like: Instead of a top-down public health messaging approach, the field is shifting toward locally based, community-led strategies that especially look to Indigenous knowledge holders and young voices to craft interventions that reflect the lived realities of the people they are meant to serve.'
'Cross-discipline connection: Researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and creatives from a wide range of backgrounds must work together to support needed changes.'
“No single organization, country, or discipline can solve today’s challenges alone,” said Babafunke Fagbemi, executive director of the Centre for Communication and Social Impact.
Day One Insights
Throughout the day, participants surfaced several recurring themes:
Listen first, build trust always. Real behavior change starts with communities feeling heard, not talked at.
ign for real people, not assumptions. The strongest solutions emerge from lived experience.
Disruption is an invitation. This moment presents an opportunity to build differently, led by those closest to the problem.
Day Two Insights
Three takeaways that surfaced across sessions:
Honor Expertise:Communities are already experts in their own context. Don’t assume expertise does not exist in communities. Value lived experience alongside professional expertise.
Rethink Funding:Financing for social change needs a fundamental shift. Expand our ideas on funding sources and what can sustain change processes. Acknowledge that the funding disruption was not a singular experience.
Trust Communities:The right tool is whatever actually reaches people—not necessarily what’s newest or most familiar. Honor approaches with a proven track record while staying open to new ideas where communities want them.
Day Three Insights
Takeaways that surfaced across sessions:
Knowledge to Action: SBC has no fixed address; it belongs everywhere. From WASH to the private sector to wildlife conservation, the discipline keeps finding new ground. The real gap isn’t generating knowledge, it’s using it.
Connection carries the work: This work is challenging and rewarding. What carries people through is strong networks, kindness, and staying connected to each other, especially when the environment makes that difficult.
Day Four
Closing the discussion, Alkali offered a final reminder: “When AI is employed and guided by the right hands, it becomes one of the most powerful tools for social and behavior change.”
Those hands, she added, were sitting in the room.
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HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org