Evidence for preventing violence and improving well-being for children and caregivers

UNICEF Indonesia's #JagaBareng campaign, developed with the Ministry of Women Empowerment and Child Protection (MoWECP) and EVAC, tackled the growing risk of online child sexual exploitation and abuse (OCSEA) amid Indonesia's rapid internet expansion (12% in 2011 to 79.5% in 2024). Overall, the campaign reached 83+ million users and generated 134+ million engagements across Facebook and Instagram.
The campaign also seized the chance to revisit a critical question: what truly counts as impact? While digital initiatives often celebrate reach and engagement, it's difficult to see how they drive meaningful change. To address this gap, UNICEF integrated a Brand Lift Study (BLS), an experimental design that measures shifts in recall, knowledge, and intention during the campaign, enabling evidence-based optimization at scale.
Content was categorized by focus (risk vs. action) and format (photo vs. illustration, static vs. video). Findings revealed that action-oriented, emotional, and video-based content drove the strongest recall and knowledge gains. However, prevention-related responses showed no significant lift, signaling the need for more targeted education.
By bridging creative design with real-time testing, BLS demonstrates how digital campaigns can move beyond vanity metrics to strategies that strengthen social and behavior change programming and deliver meaningful impact.

Child sexual abuse (CSA) affects 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 13 boys worldwide. While prevention efforts often focus on children, the role of non-offending caregivers-parents, guardians, and family members-is essential yet frequently overlooked. These caregivers have a significant impact on children's safety, but many programs in schools, healthcare, and religious organizations lack sufficient resources to support and empower them. 
A review of over 80 studies from 2015 to 2023 identified key strategies and challenges in engaging caregivers, which led to the development of a new Caregiver Engagement Framework. This framework turns best practices into social and behavior change strategies across four levels: individual, relationships, community, and institutions. 
Findings indicate that simply sharing knowledge increases awareness but does not necessarily lead to changes in protective behaviors. Effective strategies include joint workshops that enhance communication and enable children to express their concerns. Faith-based programs have successfully shifted community norms, and efforts involving multiple sectors, which include caregiver input in policy development, show promise; however, implementing these initiatives remains complicated.
The review highlights that CSA prevention requires coordinated efforts that empower caregivers rather than blaming children. Engaging caregivers as active partners helps create protective norms and promotes fairness. This strategy aligns with global aims to share knowledge, develop evidence, and strengthen social bonds-ultimately fostering a safer environment for children at the individual, relational, community, and institutional levels.

Traditional health communication in Zambia's Copperbelt Province has relied on expert-driven messaging, often overlooking community perspectives. Despite widespread radio access, maternal and child health outcomes remain poor, HIV testing uptake is low, and gender-based violence (GBV) is underreported. This project sought to transform evidence generation by positioning community members as knowledge co-creators rather than passive recipients of information. Population Media Center-Zambia implemented Insaka Ya Bumi ("Community Health Dialogue Forum"), a weekly interactive radio program that aired for 18 months. The format integrated listener call-ins, peer experience-sharing, and expert validation, reinforced with public service announcements. Topics were informed by research but adapted to caller concerns, creating a participatory platform and real-time feedback loop between communities and health systems. A mixed-methods evaluation included baseline and endline surveys, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews, comparing outcomes between exposed and unexposed populations. Results showed 44.7% population reach, with 76% of listeners tuning in weekly. Among listeners, 64.2% reported seeking health services based on peer-shared experiences. Exposed groups demonstrated significant improvements: social network HIV testing (73.2% vs. 60.5%), and GBV reporting (43% vs. 29.4%). Qualitative data revealed that hearing peers' lived experiences reduced stigma and illuminated barriers such as male partner restrictions, contraceptive myths, and economic dependencies hindering GBV reporting. Findings highlight community-generated evidence as a powerful driver of behavior change, calling for SBCC approaches that embed participatory feedback, redefine evidence hierarchies, and elevate communities as knowledge co-creators in shaping interventions.