The Ministry of Community Development and Social Services has met with UNICEF and Roth Communications to explore mechanisms for enhancing social behaviour change in support of child protection efforts.
Ministry Permanent Secretary, Ms. Angela Kawandami, emphasized the importance of stakeholder collaboration in improving the well-being of children.
Ms. Kawandami expressed concern that challenges such as child marriages, violence against children, and child neglect are often rooted in harmful cultural beliefs that undermine children’s rights.
She said this in a speech read on her behalf by Director of the Department of Planning and Information Mr. Patrick Choolwe during a courtesy meeting with UNICEF and Roth Communications, which has been engaged to support Child Protection Social Behaviour Change (SBC) campaigns.
The upcoming campaign, which will utilize standardized and multimedia communication tools, will focus on several key areas including violence prevention, promotion of birth registration, awareness of child protection laws, such as the Children’s Code and the Marriage Amendment Act and the prevention of early marriages.
She expressed optimism that improved and targeted communication strategies would help shift these narratives and improve the uptake of critical child protection messages.
UNICEF Child Protection Officer, Ms. Emelia Allan, commended the government through the Ministry for its continued efforts to strengthen child safeguarding and protection measures.
She expressed confidence that Roth Communications’ involvement in the SBC campaigns will bring more structure and professionalism to messaging, which has sometimes lacked consistency and standardization in the past.
Roth Communications Team Lead, Mr. Stuart Rothgiesser, assured stakeholders that the communication tools being developed are both standardized and tailored to meet Zambia’s current and evolving child protection needs and are designed to remain relevant for at least the next five years.
Mr. Rothgiesser also noted that the messaging will be simplified and designed to transcend technological and social barriers, ensuring greater accessibility, understanding, and impact across diverse communities.
Unicef Zambia
