Kariya Initiative

The main objective of the initiative was to support behavioural and social change in favour of polio vaccination, routine vaccination, and the promotion of basic social services for the vaccination of children from 0 to 6 years, with a particular focus on promoting positive parenting. The specific objectives were to: 
 

1. Improve the knowledge of parents and caregivers of children aged 0-6 years on the importance of routine immunisation, as well as vitamin A supplementation and birth registration for children;
2. Build the capacity of a vast network of influencers, artists, and celebrities on routine immunisation, vitamin A supplementation, and birth registration;
3. Improve the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of parents and caregivers regarding polio vaccination and routine immunisation; and
4. Contribute to the vaccination of 80% of children in the nine health districts.

The Kariya Initiative used a range of strategies to achieve this, including:

Youth Engagement
Kariya engaged about 180 youth volunteers, including 80 girls, drawn from 18 community-based youth organisations. Through local incubator Makesense Africa, STRAT-CORE Plus and Jeunes Volontaires pour l'Environnement (JVE) Niger, youth attended a series of boot camps where they were trained in HCD and behavioural design to equip them with the appropriate skills to design and mount localised and community-centred interventions to get children vaccinated.

This process included data for action sessions using community feedback and evidence from rapid social surveys collected through the Kobo Collect platform (a tool to collect, analyse, and manage data for surveys, monitoring, evaluation, and research) to gain an understanding of the social and behavioural drivers underlying the non-vaccination of children in the nine health districts. Based on the findings, the young volunteers together with parents of children and health committees co-created nine solutions to the challenges related to vaccination. For example, Zinder, one of the participating nine health districts, developed a project called "Tattalin lafiya yara" (health care for children), which integrated information and communication technology (ICT)-based monitoring strategies to remind caregivers of due dates to vaccinate their children.

Youth volunteers created awareness of their design solutions by organising community dialogues and debates, and through community radio. These sessions were also used to promote immunisation, engage influencers, and invite their peers and community role models to report on their actions related to promoting vaccination.

As a result of youth-led community engagement interventions, the actions carried out by the 180 young volunteers in collaboration with community health workers resulted in the verification of the vaccination status of 120,474 children at the household level, leading to the identification and referral of 39,102 children (including 11,670 zero-dose and 27,432 insufficiently vaccinated children aged 0-23 months). Among the referred children, 31,945 children (including 13,087 zero-dose and 18,858 insufficiently vaccinated) caught up with their required vaccination, and 6,978 received their birth certificates.

Digital Campaign
In November 2022, an estimated 313 community-based and digital influencers were engaged to design and roll out a digital campaign to promote positive parenting practices, with a particular focus on getting people to follow the immunisation calendar. The campaign, which involved 20 young influencers, ran on five social media networks (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, WhatsApp) and via short messaging service (SMS). The digital campaign sought to call people to action to become more actively involved in their children's health and the fight against polio. Parents were encouraged to post about their positive commitment to immunisation by making use of hashtags #Parentalité Positive; #Karya; and #LesVaccinsCaMarche. According to UNICEF, the digital campaign reached over 5,181,009 people.  

A range of materials (in French and and local language) were produced to support the digital campaign and to be shared on social media. They included: 
 

• Video and photo portraits of role models showing the desired behaviour;
• An animated film;
• A video about a flash mob performed at a popular market; and
• Bulk SMS messages with "Did you know?" facts related to immunisation and child health.

To keep young people and caregivers motivated and to provide social support for their engagement, the most digitally engaged young people and caregivers received certificates and baby gift sets. 

Strengthening the Community Ecosystem
The initiative strengthened the community ecosystem with the establishment/revitalisation of health committees that worked with Kariya volunteers to boost the demand for immunisation and basic social services. In particular, it built on 179 community monitoring committees and 46 monitoring committees around integrated health centres in the nine target health districts to support vaccination, the surveillance of side effects of vaccination, and the promotion of basic social services.

Mass Media
A partnership with 35 community-based and private radio and television stations was established to support the promotion of children's rights, including immunisation. All community radio stations broadcasting in the intervention areas were mobilised to support the youth volunteers' social mobilisation efforts to promote vaccination, to strengthen community engagement, and to amplify the actions carried out by young volunteers.