October-December 2016
Editorial
Participation of target audience is emphasized in strategic communication when it aims at changing behavior and social development. While BCCP’s vision is to create an empowered and enlightened society, BCCP’s programs are designed to effect positive changes in the mindset of the people in terms of health, education or social development. One such program of BCCP is the Strategic Communication (SCC) for Identification System for Enhancing Access to Services (IDEA). BCCP launched a communication program for the IDEA Project to support countrywide distribution of the Smart National Identity Card.
The Smart National Identity Card provides accurate and complete information about the owner of the Card which is expected to further generate pace for the development of the society. The card presents the modern concepts of communication and sharing information. It is obviously a timely and great initiative of this age by the Government of Bangladesh.
Through the e-Sangjog, I hope that the reader will continue to get updated information on implementation of the development activities of BCCP.
Best wishes.
Organized 3rd Mentoring Workshop on Effective PowerPoint Presentation Development and Facilitation Skills
The 3rd Mentoring Workshop on Effective PowerPoint Presentation Development and Facilitation Skills was held during December 10-11, 2016 at the Multipurpose Hall, Dhaka. The purpose of the workshop was to provide the grantees with hands-on knowledge on effective PowerPoint presentation development and facilitation skills. A couple of PowerPoint presentations on the topic were made by the BCCP team in the workshop. After the presentations, the grantees made presentations on their research findings on the 1st day of the workshop. BCCP research team and the fellow research grantees joined in providing feedback to the grantees. On the 2nd day of the workshop, the research grantees made the revised presentations incorporating the feedback. The grantees expressed their satisfaction over the workshop as it provided effective tips to prepare and deliver the PowerPoint presentations.
Sixteen participants including ten research grantees and some of their Co-Investigators attended the workshop.
Springboard to Upscale Country & Regional Health Communication
Springboard - the biggest global online platform for health communication practitioners and professionals is continuing efforts to engage its members to connect, share ideas and resources and learn together to improve the practice of health communication.
The fourth global Springboard Annual Advisory Council Meeting was held on October 3-5, 2016 in Baltimore, USA. The objective of the meeting was to i) Review progress of the strategy and finalize as required for the last year of the project to ensure Springboard is on a sustainable pathway; ii) Establish roles and responsibilities for the newly developed Sustainability Plan; iii) Review the role of the regional secretariats for improved coordination; iv) Finalize Springboard country and regional work plans for year 5. A few progressive measures have been planned for implementation during this quarter as recommended by the Advisory Council Meeting. They are;
To accelerate progress rate of regional countries in terms of increasing their active participation in respective country Springboards. Secretariat is planning to form a regional advisory committee with the managers/country champions. This committee will hold quarterly virtual meetings to review regional progress. Other Secretariat activities include initiating regional Springboard virtual activities from Secretariat in Springboard countries of Nepal, India, Pakistan and Vietnam; Bring in more members of Vietnam and Pakistan to churn up discussion; Explore and engage more members to use Springboard resources; Coordinate regional activities through an online monitoring and evaluation dashboard and encourage country representatives to update the dashboard once a month.
To bring on board the Steering Committee of Country Springboards major players in health nutrition and population will be invited to promote their ownership for springboard activities. Formation of Bangladesh Springboard Steering Committee is on progressive stage.
The aim of the Springboard is to attain sustainability from October 2017. Springboard sustainability plan is on preliminary stage where country springboards as well as Secretariats sustainability plans would be assimilated.
Activating and promoting Bangladesh Springboard is progressing for getting focused attention of the community. Google plus community page (https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/108354434497919814839), Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/bangladeshspringboard/) and twitter page (https://twitter.com/BdSpringboard) have been introduced not only to reach more SBCC professionals but also to spread this network activities through social and professional platform so that mass people can take advantage of accessing Springboard via social media.
Sangjog readers community are invited to register on the Bangladesh Health Communication Springboard to associate in a broader health practitioners’ community and engage in discussions/postings to help enhance SBCC professional growth. Readers are requested to please visit and register on https://healthcomspringboard.org/register-for-springboard/ and press ‘Join the Group’ button on the link https://healthcomspringboard.org/groups/bangladesh-health-communication-springboard/ to complete your membership.
Readers can inform us via email at springboardbangladesh@gmail.com about any event/part of their daily activities related to health program or more general issues on health, population and nutrition of Bangladesh and the region.
Strengthening Capacity for SBCC: BKMI Lessons Learned held
A dissemination event on Strengthening Capacity for SBCC: BKMI Lessons Learned was held on 17th October 2016 in Dhaka. In the event BKMI’s SBCC activities and lessons learned for 3 years in HPN sector was shared.
BKMI capacity strengthening framework functioned in three levels – individual, organization and system in three communication units of MoHFW- IEM, BHE and IPHN. The representatives from the three units shared their activities. About SBCC Tools and Resources, Ms Sharifa Begum, Chief BHE and Line Director, HEP,DGHS; Dr. Md. Moudud Hossain, Deputy Director, DGHS & Program Manager, NNS; and Md Ferdous Alam, Joint Secretary and Director, IEM, DGFP shared for individual, organizational and the system level respectively.
Ms Nilima Sharmin, family welfare assistant, DGFP Comilla and Ms Huraine Fahmida Zeny, Health Assistant, DGHS Chittagong shared their field level experience about using HPN eToolkit for field workers and eLearning courses. Mr Shahadat Mollah, health inspector from DGHS Manikganj and Mr Shaheen Alam, family planning inspector from DGFP Munshigonj shared their experience of using Monitoring & Evaluation Checklist for SBCC supervision. Dr AZM Zahidur Rahman and Ms Saiqa Siraj members of the Bangladesh BCC Working Group shared their experience about BCC Working Group and Safollo Gatha event.
The event was chaired by Ms Roxana Quader, Additional Secretary (PH & WH), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. In the event the Chair shared different successes of health sector and mentioned that leadership should not be only from the ministry level. Our work is in field level so frontline workers need to play import roles here. We need to plan what needs to be done in near future. She thanked BKMI & USAID for their support. She also mentioned that we need support from all and need to work together.
In the event the Chief Guest Mr Mohammad Wahid Hossain, Director General, DGFP thanked Rebecca Arnold, Project Director of BKMI and her team for the last 3 years achievement. He also thanked them for developing an effective M & E Checklist and facilitating the use of that in field level.
As Special Guest Dr Md Ehteshamul Huq Choudhury, Additional Director General (Admn.), DGHS mentioned that the achievement in health sector of Bangladesh is well known. We are proud to be a part of this. We faced many challenges, we had to fight for this achievement. SDG and Community health is in front of us. We need to work together with government, non government, development partners and all other stakeholders to achieve SDGs.
There was open discussion session and participants shared their thoughts about the BKMI project activities. More than 100 professionals from government, nongovernment organizations, development partners, and media attended the event.
Advocacy & Social Mobilization Workshop Held
BCCP organized a 4-day Advocacy and Social Mobilization Workshop under BCCM of UPHCSDP at Sylhet from October 22-25, 2016. The purpose of the workshop was to share with the participants advocacy related different issues that influence program performance. A total of 42 senior level officials attended the workshop as participants from the Project Management Unit (PMU), Project Implementation Unit (PIU) and PA Unit of the project.
Mr. A.S.M. Mahbubul Alam, Director General (MIE), Local Government Division, Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development & Cooperation (MoLGRD&C) was present as the chief guest and inaugurated the workshop. Mr. Dhiraj Kumar Nath, Staff Consultant (Urban Health), Bangladesh Resident Mission, Asian Development Bank (Bank) and Mr. Nurul Absar, Deputy Project Director (Finance), UPHCSDP were present as special guests in the inaugural session.
In the workshop issues like Advocacy, Social Mobilization, Strategic Communication, Community Action Plan etc. were discussed by the facilitators. Mr. Md. Abu Bakr Siddique, Project Director, UPHCSDP was present in the closing and certificate giving ceremony as the chief guest. His presentation in the two sessions on Human Mind & Behavior and Bangladesh: Journey towards Progress drew attention of the participants and they thanked the Project Director for enlightening them on meaningful topics.
Ms. Yasmin Khan, Dr. Nazrul Haque and Mr. Badal Krishna Halder were the main facilitators. They conducted different sessions related to Advocacy and Social Mobilization in the workshop. The participants were very active and eager to learn which created an environment for both the participants and facilitators to contribute more to the workshop. The workshop ended with the commitment of the participants to utilize their knowledge and skills from the workshop in the practical field.
On-the-spot e-GP registration at IMED stall in Digital World 2016
The Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED), Ministry of Planning, set a stall at the Digital World 2016 at International Convention City Bashundhara (ICCB) in Dhaka.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the event on October 19, 2016 and continued till October 21, 2016. The stall number 31 in Hall -2 of IMED displayed its functions and activities digitally.
organizedSpot registration for tenderers in electronic government procurement (e-GP) system by the Central Procurement Technical Unit (CPTU) of IMED. The CPTU is implementing e-GP in the country.
The e-GP website (www.eprocure.gov.bd), its operations and functions and public procurement mobile app introduced by CPTU were displayed there for visitors. To help visitors understand all such issues, officers and staff of IMED and CPTU were present at the stall.
BCCP assisted to establish and manage the stall in the event on behalf of IMED as a part of Strategic Communication Approach (SCA).
SMART NID Card distribution launched
The long-awaited Smart Card reaches to the hands of the people. The Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina formally opened the distribution on the 2nd of October by handing over the smart NID card to the honorable President Abdul Hamid through Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmed. The CEC then handed over the same card to PM with her biometric details. Afterwards, the Honorable Prime Minister distributed smart NID card to member of the national cricket team including the captain and brand ambassador of smart NID card, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza. Minister, PM’s advisers, parliament members, foreign diplomats, ex-CECs and election commissioners, civil society members and high civil and military officials at the function.
At the ceremony, The Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said, “The government has taken steps to curb militancy and terrorism in the country. The smart NID card will help a lot to cut anti-social activities”,
In this occasion, CEC Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmed was present as the special guest and the Secretary of EC Secretariat Md. Sirajul Islam delivered the welcome address. Mr. Qimiao Fan, Country Director, World Bank, also spoke and the Project Director of Identification System for Enhancing Access to Services Brigadier General Sultanuzzaman Md. Saleh Uddin gave a short presentation on the smart NID card.
The IDEA project is being implemented by Election Commission Bangladesh with financial support of World Bank and BCCP is directing program to populize the Smart Card.