APRIL 2021 - UNICEF Ethiopia teamed up with Girl Effect to deliver an integrated C4D campaign promoting behaviour change in adolescents, covering challenges such as COVID-19 prevention, returning back to school, nutrition, gender-based violence (GBV), and others.

Girl Effect, a creative non-profit building youth brands and mobile platforms to empower girls to change their lives, hosts a youth brand called Yegna, meaning ‘ours’ in Amharic. Developed after speaking to more than a thousand girls about the challenges they face in their everyday lives, Yegna introduced the first Ethiopian television drama for teenagers. The show is hugely popular, with an audience of over 10 million people.

Supported by Global Affairs Canada, UNICEF partnered with the Girl Effect to roll out a three-pronged behaviour change intervention: a COVID-19 public service announcement (PSA) media campaign, integration of targeted messaging in the Yegna TV drama episodes, and a rural schools programme.

Baseline research collected in November 2020, highlighted the need to promote and sustain the adoption of key COVID-19 prevention behaviours, to increase the number of parents and children willing to return to school, and to enhance knowledge in the areas of nutrition, violence against women and menstrual hygiene management.

Targeting the ways adolescents relate to these areas, the campaign is providing accurate information through trusted sources and adequate channels to promote behaviour change. The campaign will enhance trust by showcasing key influencers practicing recommended behaviours and showcasing positive human interest-stories. Additionally, safe discussion spaces are being provided so that adolescents can share how they feel and think, their fears and questions in collaboration with key community platforms.

The COVID-19 PSA media campaign featured 20 short PSAs from the Yegna cast, airing across TV, radio, social media and on billboards. The video advertisements, featuring Yegna influencers like the characters Dawit and Hile discussing the importance of avoiding intake of fast food and processed foods, or Fiker and Saba chatting about menstrual hygiene and creating sanitary pads, aired over 400 times on TV and radio. Others discuss the excitement and anxiety of returning to school, and the importance of handwashing. Billboards show the Yegna characters with messages on nutrition, COVID-19, mental health and menstrual hygiene management. The campaign will run for 20 weeks, with an estimated reach of 15 million through TV and radio and 1.5 million through social media and billboards.

“Thank you Dawit, drinking enough water is good for our own health. I had bladder infection, and my doctor advised me to drink more water, since then I am taking enough water on daily basis”, shares an adolescent viewer on social media. Another shared, “I totally agree, we should avoid sugary beverage and foods, it will affect our health” in response to the be like Dawit video.

UNICEF also supported integration of key messaging into Yegna TV drama episodes. Season three featured four episodes under the collaboration, covering the same key topics as the PSAs, along with challenges such as deworming causes and preventive mechanisms. Airing between February and September 2020, the episodes could be watched in Amharic, Afan Ormo and Tigrigna languages. Season four, on air now, includes eight episodes under the collaboration. These episodes cover additional themes such as teenage pregnancy, focusing on maternal nutrition and Iron Folic Acid (IFA) supplementation and the need for intake of a healthy diet and physical exercise. Episodes air every Sunday on multiple TV channels.

Adolescents engage in conversations online about the drama series. “Ohhh Haile, you thought it was the love of Fiker giving you stomach pain, but you were told it was worms in your stomach...it’s not love! Like the doctor said your health should come first, take the deworming pills twice a year and wash your hands and drink boiled water, just take care of yourself”, one reacted. Another said, “Because of the drama we have learned about confidence which is basic”.

78 per cent of viewers say they have learned something new from the show, and 42 per cent say that they have acted differently as a result of watching the show.

Alongside largescale airing of the show, the project launched a rural schools programme, particularly to reach adolescents without access through TV or other devices. UNICEF purchased solar projectors to show shortened clips of the series in school clubs, targeting 28 schools in three regions. After watching an episode, talking guides lead students and teachers through discussion about the content and the topic the show engages with. These discussions are supplemented by fact sheets for discussion with parents. Teachers and principals were trained, and the initiative was launched in schools in Oromia and Amhara, with Tigray on hold due to unrest in the region. While the program was paused for over nine months due to school closure, Oromia is now on week thirteen of viewership, and Amhara is on week nine. ​​​​​​​

“There is huge interest from the students to participate in these groups. We have around 1,200 students and they all would like to take part if there was enough capacity”, said the School Director of Amuta Chanho School in Oromia.

A student at the Amuta Chancho school said, “Seeing Hana and Haile collaborating and helping each other and doing chores together has helped me understand the advantages and motivated me.”

UNICEF Ethiopia is looking forward to potentially collaborating on future episodes and engaging with other topics such as infant child feeding. End line research will be conducted and finalized in June 2021.