Niger - Communication Consultants Report

General Objective:

To contribute to the improvement of the quality of the communication activities, social mobilisation, and vaccination for the National Immunisation Days (NIDs), and improve upon the Expanded Programme for Immunisation (EPI) and the surveillance specific objectives.

Engaging all partners

Strengths

• Social mobilisation committees have been struck at all levels.
• There is representation from the religious leaders, the Association de la Chefferie Traditionnelle du Niger (ACTN), the associations/NGOs, the media and education

Weaknesses

• The structures work irregularly at the regional and district level
• There is an absence of financial support for the working of the committees

Area Communication

Strengths

• Existence of mobilising relays
• Engagement of the chiefs of districts / villages/ sectors

Weaknesses

• Disparity in the handling of the mobilising relays

Action Points

• To harmonise the rate of handling

Interagency Partnerships

Strengths

• Regular holding of the meetings of the CORE Group
• Integration of other Agencies in the CORE Group

Partnership with NGOs

Strengths

• Support from the NGOs and associations in the areas of human capital and financial and logistical aid

Weaknesses

• Lack of advocacy by other NGOs and associations intervening in some regions

Action Points

• To advocate for the participation of these organisations

Media

Strengths

• Representation of the medias within the committees at the region and district level
• Existence of media guides
• Existence of a media plan
• Days of information with the representatives of the national press (public and private)

Weaknesses

• Absence of advocacy by the persons responsible for the media for their effective engagement in the activities of communication

Training

Strengths

• Existence of a training module for the mobilising relays
• Existence of direction and supervision tools for the communication activities, social mobilisation
• Support to the different sessions for effective training of some actors such as the Equipe Cadre de District (ECD), chiefs of the Centre de Santé Intégré (CSI), supervisors and vaccinators
• The proposed date and the length of the training was respected

Weaknesses

• Absence of training for the mobilising relays
• Failure to apply the educational methods contained in the module by some chiefs of the CSI

Action Points

• To strengthen the supervision of the training process

Microplanning

Strengths

• Decentralisation down to the level district
• Engagement of the chiefs CSI
• Arbitration in the distribution of the villages in the health areas of the CSI
• Cartography and mapping of the health areas
• Development of chronograms/timelines of the activities for every CSI

Weaknesses

• Lack of old-fashioned information at the operational level

Internal Level (UNICEF)

Strengths

• Weekly technical meetings
• Logistical support (connection on the network UNICEF, organisation of the transportation)
• Sharing of the information with the different programmes of the office

External Level

Strengths

• Regular meetings of the CORE Group
• Regular meetings of the Comité Technique National d'Organisation (CTNO)
• Meetings under national committee of social mobilisation
• Meetings with consultants from UNICEF/WHO

Weaknesses

• Absence of representative of the traditional chiefs within the structure

Action Points

• Advocacy for the integration of the ACTN within the CORE Group structure

At the national, regional, district level

Strengths

• Organisation of the supervision teams in the district and CSI levels
• Advocacy by the administrative and traditional authorities
• Timely distribution of funds and all inputs in the level of the districts and CSI

Weaknesses

• Overlap of some programmes during the NID
• Delayed setting up of some supports for social mobilisation

Action Points

• Effective application of the order on the suspension of all other activity during the NIDs

Diffusion of the messages

Strengths

• Diffusion of the messages by all public, private and communal radios
• Development of micro programme by the radios

Weaknesses

• Delay in the diffusion of the messages occurred, some were broadcast only 4 days prior to the vaccination campaign

Action Points

• To produce and to distribute the supports to the operational level in J14 before the starting of the activities of communication and vaccination

Positioning of the inputs and other materials

Strengths

• Timely setting in place of the vaccines, the tools and funds
• Distribution of the inputs in the level of the districts and CSI
• Management of the cold chain

Weaknesses

• Weakness in the management in the distribution of the social mobilisation supports

Marking and identification of the children

Strengths

• Indelible ink for all teams

Weaknesses

• Marking was not systematic, nor was it always correct

Action Points

• To strengthen the local supervision

Evaluation

Strengths

• Rapid investigations done at the district and CSI levels
• International and national consultants, regional supervisors
• Use of verification/checking cards and assessment of the social mobilisation activities
• Assessments of the vaccination activities in mid-course at the region and district levels

Weaknesses

• Assessment of the communication activities not done by some chiefs of the CSI

Budget Expenditures

• Total budget of the NID: 785,099,643 CFA
• Social mobilization: 95,122,163 CFA
• Advocacy towards the cases of refusal: 2,721,000 CFA
• Social mobilisation by the traditional chiefs: 10,888,940 CFA
• Days of information for the village chiefs: 17,O52,000 CFA
• Public Criers: 2,450,000 CFA
• Medias (public, private and communal radios): 9,600,000 CFA
• CIP: 29,260,000 CFA
• Supervision: 19.450.223 CFA
• Collective of Pastoral Associates of Niger: 4,000,000 CFA
• Collective of the Islamic Associations: 2,165,000 CFA
• Networks of the Living Arts: 3,000,000 CFA

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