North East Social and Behaviour Change Secretariat inaugurated
Date : 10 June 2022 : Assam Don Bosco University

North East Social and Behaviour Change Secretariat inaugurated

BTR Chief Pramod Boro Inaugurates North East Social and Behaviour Change Secretariat at Assam Don Bosco University

First of its kind in the region, the Secretariat of the North East Social and Behaviour Change Alliance (NE SBC Alliance) in collaboration with UNICEF, India was launched on 9 June 2022 by Chief of Bodoland Territorial Council, Pramod Boro, at Tapesia Campus for strengthening social and behaviour change on multifaceted social and development challenges in the North-eastern States. The Alliance is the result of the collaborative initiative of UNICEF India and Assam Don Bosco University which was launched in 2019.

Dr. Madhulika Jonathan, Chief of UNICEF Field Office, Assam and North East, Mr. Siddartha Shrestha Chief, Social and Behaviour Change, UNICEF India, Dr. Ashoke Roy, Director, Regional Resource Centre for North Eastern States, Branch of NHSRC, MoHFW, and representatives from 40 organisations, government departments, universities and non-governmental organisations from across North East India and Delhi participated in the launching the ceremony.

Since 2019, the North East SBC Alliance has reached out to 192 Civil Society and Faith-based (FBOs) organizations in seven North Eastern states and has also groomed 100 community volunteers for SBC Intervention in Bodoland Territorial Region.

In addition, 36 capacity building training and workshops, as well as 18 community mobilization programmes on COVID-19, Covid Appropriate Behaviour (CAB), WASH, Education, Child Trafficking, Adolescent suicide, Nutrition, etc were conducted by associated CSOs, FBOs, and community volunteers in Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Bodoland Territorial Region of Assam.

As part of the inaugural ceremony, a day-long programme on Multi-stakeholder Consultation to Strengthen Social and Behaviour Change (SBC) Programming in North East Region was also organised for strengthening SBC to build network and develop partnerships as well as to create SBC agenda for the overall development in the Northeast.

Moreover, a total of 12 technical sessions were conducted by experts on various SBC topics such as
Overview of SBC as change strategy in new UNICEF CPD by Tamara Abu Sham, SBC Specialist, UNICEF India,
Socio-political-economic environment of NE region and its impact on children by Dr. Ankuran Dutta, Associate Professor, Department of Communication and Journalism, Gauhati University,
National perspective – Health by Dr. Vivek Singh, Health Specialist UNICEF India,
System strengthening for SBC by Dr. Tulika Goswami Mahanta Professor and Head Community Medicine, Assam Medical College and Hospital, Dibrugarh,
SBC for education & child protection: issues, challenges by Victor Narzary, OSD Communication, Bodoland Territorial Council, BTR,
Risk Communication & Community Engagement by Ms. Ruchira Neog Executive Secretary,
Voluntary Health Association of Assam, Significance of evidence for SBC programming, Behavioural insights approach by Alka Malhotra, SBC Specialist, UNICEF India,
Engagement with FBOs and CSOs to reach the last mile population by Prof. Riju Sharma, Director, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, ADBU & Shalini Prasad, SBC Specialist, UNICEF Delhi, among others.

The programme was followed by a group discussion on five strategic pillars of SBC Intervention such as partnerships building, capacity development, Innovative/ sustained community engagement, evidence generation and strategic communication, etc.

Monjib Mochahari
Assistant Professor and Project Coordinator, North East SBC Alliance
Department of Mass Communication
Assam Don Bosco University