Reflections from my time in Nigeria: CCP's July Newsletter

MESSAGE FROM DEBORA B. FREITAS LóPEZ

Earlier this month, I traveled to Nigeria and was welcomed in typical Nigerian fashion, with great warmth, friendliness, and vibrancy! It was a welcome that I will always cherish. This was a special trip for me. It was my first as executive director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs and, as such, my first opportunity to see firsthand the great work that we are doing in-country right now and learn more about our decades-long history of implementing sound programs there.

Though a short trip, I had the chance to meet with the CCP teams implementing each of our projects in Nigeria: USAID-funded Breakthrough ACTION Nigeria and MOMENTUM Safe Surgery in Family Planning and Obstetrics, as well as The Challenge Initiative (TCI) , funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. I also met with local groups such as our sister organization – Centre for Communication and Social Impact – and the Association for Reproductive and Family Health .

Our project teams shared their recent evidence-based innovations in social and behavior change as well as in key health areas such as family planning/sexual and reproductive health, knowledge management, and research and evaluation. And they told me about how some of these innovations are ready to be scaled up more broadly across the country, and even shared globally.

I was struck by Breakthrough ACTION’s unique approach to women’s empowerment groups and expanded work with local governments, by MOMENTUM and TCI’s support for sustained local ownership and decision-making in family planning/sexual reproductive health at national and state levels, and our commitment to tailoring approaches that focus on the context of each state vs. a national approach that does not always “fit.”

Our roots in Nigeria run deep. As they continue to grow, we can take risks and try out new approaches and interventions, refining as we go based on data and lessons learned, as well as pivoting the role we as CCP play based on local context and local leadership and ownership.

DIGITAL HEALTH

Distilling the Promises of AI in Global Health from the Hype

Marla Shaivitz, CCP's director of digital strategy, makes sense of what role artificial intelligence may play in the field in the future – and what is already happening now. Read more ?

YOUTH

New Collaboration Aims to Help Find Work for 500,000 Ethiopian Youth

Working with the Mastercard Foundation, CCP is part of a five-year, $48-million project to prepare young Ethiopians for meaningful work. Read more ?

MATERNAL HEALTH

Helping New Mothers Cope with Anxiety and Depression in Ethiopia

A simplified version of Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) may help postpartum Ethiopian women become better equipped to adopt family planning. Read more ?

STAFF UPDATE

CCP Deputy Director Bill Glass Retires

Glass, a beloved member of the CCP staff for more than 30 years, including a recent 14-month stint as the center’s interim executive director, retired last month. Read more ?

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

New High Impact Practice Briefs on Social and Behavior Change for Family Planning

The HIPs Partnership in collaboration with the IBP Network recently hosted a three-part webinar series to highlight three recently-published High Impact Practice (HIP) briefs on Social and Behavior Change (SBC) for family planning. This blog post highlights key information from the webinar series; all HIP briefs and webinar recordings can be found on the HIPs website. Learn more ?