Using CLA for Timely Social Behavior Change Communication Adaptation in Uganda

been determined by its ability to adapt to changing contextual factors and continuous learning and improvement. ICAN is USAID’s flagship resilience Activity, working to increase economic opportunities, improve nutrition, and strengthen participation in community and local governance. The Activity is targeting 116,000 vulnerable households, 184,000 mothers, and 23,000 adolescents in select districts within Kigezi, Acholi, and Karamoja sub-regions with high poverty levels, malnutrition, and vulnerability to disasters. The five-year Activity is working through existing community structures such as Business Service Providers (BSPs), Village Health Teams (VHTs), and Governance Champions that are agents of behavior change within the communities and spearhead community commitment to agreed resilience actions. USAID ICAN’s key highlight activity is community-led dialogues where key contentious issues and decisions around community shocks are discussed. This tailored Social and Behavior Change (SBC) Strategy enable communities to take up key resilience-building priority behaviors.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Activity increased the use of radio as a safe option to reach communities. However, the Activity’s CLA led annual survey ascertained business service providers (BSP) (29%) more than any other source as communities’ information sources, with a smaller citing of radios (12%). This was going to pose a challenge as radio use was highly recommended. Therefore, to better understand this self-reported divergence and make effective decisions, the Activity conducted a radio pulse check. The findings delivered key programming adaptations for behavior change towards resilience. The Activity will continue to conduct regular pulse-checks for beneficiary community input and use the learnings to adapt interventions accordingly.