Inclusion and equity in Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) are most effective when they go beyond messaging to create platforms that amplify lived experiences, elevate marginalized voices, and challenge entrenched social norms. Traditional health communication has often focused on top-down dissemination of information, yet evidence shows that lasting transformation requires dialogue, co-creation, and community ownership. Storytelling, when rooted in dignity and authenticity, is a powerful driver of this process bridging the gap between data, personal experience, and policy influence.
In Uganda, Amref Health Africa has embraced this approach through its flagship initiatives,the Heroes for Gender Transformative Action programme and the Saving Lives and Livelihoods (SLL) project. These programmes recognize that inequities in safe motherhood, immunization, and gender relations are reinforced by harmful social norms and weak health-seeking behaviors. To respond, Amref piloted media excursions as an innovative model that integrates storytelling and dialogue with the power of the press.
Over a two-year period, 30 journalists from diverse regions of Uganda were engaged and immersed in community contexts where issues of sexual and reproductive health, maternal care, gender-based violence, and immunization converge. Rather than reporting from afar, journalists directly interacted with women, youth, health workers, and local leaders. This experiential engagement enabled them to document survivor-centered narratives, highlight systemic barriers, and give visibility to underrepresented perspectives.
By turning communities into active storytellers and journalists into co-creators of dialogue, the excursions reframed health communication as a participatory, equity-driven, and policy-relevant process.
Inclusion and equity in Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) are most effective when they go beyond messaging to create platforms that amplify lived experiences, elevate marginalized voices, and challenge entrenched social norms. Traditional health communication has often focused on top-down dissemination of information, yet evidence shows that lasting transformation requires dialogue, co-creation, and community ownership. Storytelling, when rooted in dignity and authenticity, is a powerful driver of this process bridging the gap between data, personal experience, and policy influence.
In Uganda, Amref Health Africa has embraced this approach through its flagship initiatives,the Heroes for Gender Transformative Action programme and the Saving Lives and Livelihoods (SLL) project. These programmes recognize that inequities in safe motherhood, immunization, and gender relations are reinforced by harmful social norms and weak health-seeking behaviors. To respond, Amref piloted media excursions as an innovative model that integrates storytelling and dialogue with the power of the press.
Over a two-year period, 30 journalists from diverse regions of Uganda were engaged and immersed in community contexts where issues of sexual and reproductive health, maternal care, gender-based violence, and immunization converge. Rather than reporting from afar, journalists directly interacted with women, youth, health workers, and local leaders. This experiential engagement enabled them to document survivor-centered narratives, highlight systemic barriers, and give visibility to underrepresented perspectives.
By turning communit ...
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