Speak Up Africa joins Roll Back Malaria Communication Community of Practice (RBM CCoP) in Annual Meeting Held to Improve the Impact of Malaria SBCC through Effective Coordination

Kampala, Uganda, 29-30 September, 2015 – Speak Up Africa is among the many global stakeholders that met on September 29 and 30, 2015 in Kampala, Uganda for the Roll Back Malaria Communication Community of Practice (RBM CCoP) 2015 Annual Meeting, a yearly gathering of public health professionals that work to foster more effective malaria communication programming at the country level. Speak Up Africa was among representatives from national malaria elimination/control programs and partner, multilateral and donor organizations, representing 22 countries.

This year’s meeting focused on using effective coordination to improve the impact of malaria social and behaviour change communication (SBCC). Partners led earnest discussions on the opportunities and challenges of coordinating malaria SBCC activities on the ground, and provided insights into best practices from their own experiences. The meeting also featured presentations and panels on SBCC’s role in emerging issues, such as SBCC for seasonal malaria chemoprevention, and shifting global strategies, including documents from Action and Investment to defeat Malaria (AIM 2016-2030), the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI 2015-2020), and United Nations Development Program’s Sustainable Development Goals. On the last day, the Knowledge Management Task Force led a skills-building session on identifying and using appropriate malaria SBCC resources.

RBM CCoP was formed to empower RBM partners at the country level to develop, implement and evaluate effective malaria communication activities to ensure the proper use of treatment and prevention. The community hosts bi-monthly Steering Committee phone calls and bi-monthly general phone calls to present promising programs, share lessons learned, promote helpful resources and events and implement the Global Strategic Framework for Malaria Communication at the country level. To learn more about joining the group, visithttp://www.rollbackmalaria.org/architecture/working-groups/ccop.

For more information, contact: Speak Up Africa, Fara Ndiaye, fara.ndiaye@speakupafrica.org