Filling critical evidence gaps

South Africa's End TB Campaign has set ambitious targets to test 5 Million people for Tuberculosis (TB) every year. Creating demand for TB Testing requires not only compelling communication but also a competent, confident workforce to deliver high-quality SBCC interventions to improve TB case finding, testing uptake, and treatment adherence. To support this goal, the National Department of Health conducted a national SBCC Needs Assessment, developed a TB SBCC Training Manual, and pilot-tested the training manual among implementers. The Needs Assessment revealed substantial gaps in SBCC knowledge, including limited understanding of behaviour change frameworks, message design, audience segmentation, digital communication, and monitoring and evaluation. 
Using these findings, the SBCC Training Manual was developed to strengthen foundational SBCC competencies, introduce behaviour change approaches such as COM-B and the Socio-Ecological Model, and provide practical guidance for message design, interpersonal communication, and community mobilization. The manual was pilot-tested with mixed groups of provincial teams and implementing partners. Participants valued the manual's relevance, practicality, and contextual alignment. Key feedback included the need for improved layout and navigation, more local case studies, additional scenario-based exercises, and inclusion of digital and youth-focused modules.
The manual has since been refined and finalized, and is ready for national rollout across nine provinces. This capacity-building process strengthens the foundational skills needed to implement the End TB Campaign and contributes to improved coordination, message consistency, and behaviour change outcomes nationally.

The 2024 Zambia Malaria Behavior Survey redefined how knowledge and evidence are generated and applied by transforming data collection and interpretation into a collaborative, participatory process. Through joint analysis by technical experts, government, and community representatives, the Malaria Behavior Survey bridged Zambia's behavioral data gap and translated insights into action. While Zambia has extensive malaria surveillance data, behavioral insights explaining the "why" behind prevention, treatment, and control practices are scarce. To fill this gap, the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs Breakthrough ACTION project collaborated with the Zambia National Malaria Elimination Center, the U.S. President's Malaria Initiative (PMI), and local organizations to implement the Malaria Behavior Survey. This standardized, theory-based survey goes beyond measuring malaria-related practices to identify psychosocial and demographic drivers of behavior. Through inclusive data interpretation workshops, diverse stakeholders translated findings into actionable strategies. Locally driven insights from the Malaria Behavior Survey have already shaped Zambia's National Malaria Social and Behavior Change Strategy, transforming complex data into equitable, evidence-based policy. 

Financial literacy is often seen as a deficit in emerging markets,  yet recent research from South Africa flips this narrative. A collaboration between Momentum Group and the Bureau of Market Research (BMR) found that consumers in low-income segments often display stronger financial discipline and decision-making behaviours than their middle-class counterparts. This insight challenges traditional assumptions around who holds financial knowledge and highlights a core theme of the SBCC Summit 2025: reimagining what counts as knowledge, and who decides.
This presentation aligns with the subtheme Knowledge and Evidence and elevates financial literacy as a critical, yet underexplored, dimension of social and behaviour change. Using data from over 20 million South African households, the research shows that trust, cultural relevance, and emotional connection drive financial behaviour more than income or access. While products like funeral cover are widely adopted, more formal tools (e.g., wills, insurance, retirement) remain underutilised.
Financial inclusion must be treated as a foundational element of development and equity within SBCC - especially for youth, women, and marginalised groups. This presentation offers evidence and insights to help practitioners better design communication strategies that respect informal knowledge, centre lived experience, and build systems of financial trust.