Choose a site:

Natural Resource Management

Where communication and media are central to Natural Resource Management

NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT|Approaches|Tools|Issues|Regions/Countries|MDGs|Polls / Discussions

Average Rating: no ratings submitted

Avian Influenza Behaviour Change Communication Project

Country

Cambodia

Region

South East and East Asia

Programme Summary

The United-States-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) called AED is undertaking work in Cambodia in partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as part of an effort to increase awareness and shift behaviours related to bird flu among farmers and the general public in this country. Brochures and posters have been produced, and social mobilisation, community-based communication, and mass media are being drawn upon to educate and stimulate change.

Communication Strategies

This initiative draws on the SuperChicken (or SuperMoan in Khmer) image and logo, which has been developed to raise awareness in countries vulnerable to avian flu - with an "edutainment" focus. In the case of this initiative, the chicken figure (seen sporting a megaphone) is being used to urge Cambodians to wash their hands, separate chickens, clean their farmyard, and fence poultry. Printed brochures and posters are available; they may also be viewed online. For example, a SuperMoan calendar may be viewed (in PDF format) by clicking here.

Face-to-face encounters are also part of the AED/USAID strategy for addressing the avian influenza risk in Cambodia. Interpersonal communication, commune communication, and mass media on avian influenza prevention messages on animal-to-animal and animal-to-human transmission have been developed. For instance, in 2007, to coincide with the Festival of the Dead (an annual Khmer commemoration to honour the spirits of their ancestors), organisers promoted best practices to prevent outbreaks of the H5N1 virus through behaviour change communication (BCC) which included a combination of social mobilisation, community-based communication, and mass media. The communication activities were carried out by five teams of three people each, and included the avian influenza icon, SuperChicken (SuperMoan). These groups made appearances at the bus and taxi stations where many Cambodians begin their travels back to their hometowns for the celebration. In addition to generating discussions and answering questions about avian influenza and how to prevent it, more than 70,000 SuperMoan stickers were distributed at this festival.

Development Issues

Health.

Key Points

In total, as of this writing, the team implementing this avian flu initiative in Cambodia has distributed 140,000 stickers and reached 40,000 people.

Partners

United Nations (UN), local NGOs, partners in poultry raising and agriculture, theatre partners, and research partners.

Contact

Dee Bennett
AED
Washington D.C.
20009
United States

Source

Email from Cynthia Arciaga to The Communication Initiative on October 18 2007; and AED's Avian Influenza website.


Placed on the Communication Initiative site October 19 2007
Last Updated October 19 2007

How useful did you find this page to your work?

1 - not useful    5 - very useful
Feel free to leave us comments
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Register and Participate

Subscribe to The Drum Beat, Contribute to Forums, Get Poll Results etc
New to CI? » Start here

User login

Help Seed The CI Network

Poll