Evaluation of the Meena Communication Initiative

Commissioned by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Regional Office for South Asia (ROSA) in 2003, this 106-page evaluation focuses on the key outcomes and implementation processes of the Meena Communication Initiative (MCI) in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Nepal. Launched in 1991, this major human rights intervention campaign uses a multi-media entertainment-education (EE) approach that involves the use of entertaining stories to influence its audiences' awareness, knowledge, understanding, capacities and practices in relation to the status, rights and treatment of girls. Examples of communication tools developed as part of MCI include an interactive girl-friendly website; an animated film/television series; a radio series on the BBC's Urdu, Bengali, Hindi and Nepali World Services; documentaries; comic books; posters; folk media; and numerous other materials, some of which were integrated into school curricula and/or made available to non-profit groups in the form of kits.

The stories developed for the MCI revolve around the adventures of Meena, a 9-year-old South Asian girl, and members of her family and village community. The MCI is designed to complement and reinforce programme objectives supported by UNICEF and its partners. As such, it has been linked to a number of education, health, and social development programmes undertaken by UNICEF partners in government, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the media, and the private sector. In recent years, the implementation was decentralised to countries, which have tailored the initiative to meet their own unique circumstances - leading to different levels and types of implementation at different times across the region. The MCI is thus a complex and variable set of intentions, processes, activities and events that have occurred and evolved over varying lengths of time in a range of different settings. The common element is the shared focus on the rights, understandings, life skills, and practices of the girl child.

Excerpts from the Executive Summary follow:

"Purpose/Objective:

As the funding for MCI was drawing to a close in end-2003, and efforts were under way to ensure its continuation at country level, it was decided that an evaluation be conducted of the MCI....Its objectives are to:

• describe and assess the key outcomes of the MCI in terms of achieved reach, awareness and knowledge, life skills practices, and perceptions and attitudes to Meena as an entertainment education medium;
• describe and assess the implementation processes in each of the four countries, identifying the key inputs, activities, implementation strategies, efficiency of activities, enabling factors and constraints;
• assess and document the financial costs of key stages of implementation to enable an understanding of the cost of the MCI; and
• identify potential for expansion and sustainability of the MCI.

Methodology:

The evaluation process was decentralized to allow for wide participation at country level. Separate institutions completed the assessments in the four countries within an overall evaluation design, with adaptations suited for country-specific situations....Quantitative data were gathered from children and adults through household surveys, using structured interview schedules.....Questionnaires were also used for UNICEF personnel at country and regional levels. Qualitative techniques consisted of document analysis, focus group discussions, interviews, workshops and meetings with people involved in or affected by the MCI...

Findings and Conclusions:

The evaluation's findings confirm the potential of the MCI, due to the great appeal and attractiveness of the communication materials and the channels, to communicate children's rights, particularly girls' rights, to South Asian audiences and, in so doing, to create awareness, promote acquisition of life skills, and encourage change in life skills practices.

...Contextual factors were found to play a major role in influencing the extent of achievement. Findings on the sources of knowledge of the MCI messages among target audiences revealed the significance of parents, villagers/society, teachers, friends and television. Key factors underpinning non-adoption of intended practices were found to include poverty, social norms, the role of adults in attitudinal change among children, local customs and beliefs, and security concerns for girls traveling to school. Together, these findings highlight the importance of further tailoring the means of communication to meet the specific needs and contexts of the target groups, and the need for multidimensional strategic planning that addresses infrastructural and cultural elements as well as those related directly to communication, and the significance of cross-programme planning.

The efficiency of implementation varied across the region, depending on factors such as differential access to resources and expertise, availability of training participants, and accessibility of target audiences....Capacity building was found to have occurred within the MCI, particularly in the areas of research, dissemination and advocacy. This was not as apparent in relation to marketing, management, monitoring and evaluation.

Examples of multiplication and replication within the MCI's implementation were demonstrated, and the value of this was confirmed, subject to an assessment of the degree of fit with the newly intended audience's needs and context. The importance of disseminating details of interventions across the region so that each country and implementing agency is aware of the range of options available, was also noted.

Key factors facilitating implementation have been identified in the evaluation as the dedicated commitment of key players within and outside of UNICEF, and the inherent appeal of the Meena product, due in large part to its underpinning research and development processes...

Constraining factors were identified as gaps in UNICEF organizational awareness and application of the MCI, shortage of funds, limits on availability of materials, non-availability of materials in some local languages, and local security, transport and infrastructure problems...

While difficulties were experienced in determining the actual costs of the MCI, materials production emerged as a major component. The relative importance of this aspect might be expected to diminish in future years...

Scope exists for further expansion of the MCI, given its positive outcomes, its unreached or partially-reached audiences, and newly emerging issues relating to girls' rights. The further development of partnerships should play an important role in this, subject to consideration of a number of issues. These include retaining the key Meena messages and intentions, maintaining artistic and production standards, and ensuring that the initiative addresses the specific needs, characteristics and contexts of its various target groups.

Key lessons learnt from the MCI implementation stress the importance of advocates, customising implementation for specific target audiences, simultaneous action on contextual enabling factors, and strategic planning to ensure that Meena activities are part of an overall set of integrated and ongoing strategies and programmes. An organizational model involving the establishment of one or more institutions, connected to but largely operating outside of UNICEF, with NGOs playing a central role, could be an option for the future of MCI.

Recommendations:

The report includes a number of recommendations focusing on strategic planning, attention to enabling factors, internal and external marketing, cross-programme implementation, participatory decision making, ongoing evaluation, capacity development, support of key personnel, cost reporting, and adoption of a model for promoting sustainability..."

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