Togo - Communication Consultant Report

Togo is situated on the coast of the Gulf of Guinea, and covers a surface area of 56,600 Km2s. It is bordered to the north by Burkina Faso, to the south by the Atlantic ocean, to the east by Benin and to the west, Ghana. The main cities are Lomés, the capital, Sokodé, Kara, Atakpamé, Tsévié and Dapaong. The estimated population on the basis of the last census of 1981 is estimated to 5,090,000 inhabitants in 2004. The country includes six sanitary regions that are Lomé-Common, Maritime, Trays, Power station, Karas and the Savannas. These regions are subdivided in thirty-five (35) sanitary districts, divided into 608 peripheral care units (USP).

Main Epidemiological Data:

• 2000-2002 conducted Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) surveillance
• 1 case of sharp flabby paralyses in 2003 what entailed some National Immunisation Days (NIDs) with one CV of 105%
• In 2004, 1 polio wild virus in the Savannas in Oti with one CV (??) in March 2004 of 101%

Main Sociological Data:

• Religions: Christian, Protestant and Islamic
• Main languages: Ewé, Kabyè, Tchokossi, Moba, Tem, Bassar, and Apkosso
• Main activities: trade, agriculture
• The life expectancy to the birth is estimated at 49 years, the birth rate is of 4.5%
• The last census of the population dates of 1981
• Border population in perpetual movement

Communication Objectives:

• To bring 100% of the mothers and guardians of children aged 0-5 to vaccinated
• To train the agents of mobilisation so that the best information on polio is conveyed
• To increase population awareness and acceptance of the vaccine
• To contribute to the quality of the vaccination of all children aged from 0 to 5 years
• To sensitise the families on the importance of the vaccination for the health of the children

Local Communication Committees

Weaknesses

• The irregularity of the government's members participation because they are not very motivated

Action Points

• To be going to look for the participants with the vehicle of the UNICEF and to deposit them after the meetings

Area Communication

Strengths

• The formation of at least 150 mobilising agents in 15 districts in 2 regions that made door-to-door visits under the supervision of the departmental directors (team settings)

Weaknesses

• Financing not available in the 1st round to take in account all 6 regions

Action Points

• Available financing to be processed for the 2nd round of the region of Lomé - Townships by the UNICEF, the two regions Power station and Trays by the NGO Plan Togo
• Negotiations with Rotary are underway with regards to funding for the maritime region
• Ensuring the early release of funds

Interagency Partnerships

Strengths

• Rotary, Red Cross, WHO are on the committee of social mobilisation
• Cooperation on the development of the communication plan

Weaknesses

• The application of the communication plan was not very rigorous

NGO Partnerships

Strengths

• No strong partnerships with NGOs

Action Points

• To make contact with the local NGOs to improve their engagement

Media

Strengths

• The signing of contracts with the 35 radio stations in the area
• Development of a media plan for these radios stations
• Development and engagement with journalists at the central level for a press kit for exploitation

Weaknesses

• The press releases didn't reach the 35 radio stations because of the administrative obstructionism

Action Points

• Actualising the press releases and ensuring their delivery to all radio stations
• To encourage the radio stations that would have followed the plan to take the initiative in broadcasting while securing better negotiated prices from operators

Interpersonal Communication Module Development

(For vaccinators, supervisors, mobilizers)

Strengths

• Lessons include those on the role of a mobilising agent, on the CIP and information on polio
• Existence modules agents of communal health (ASC) on the conduct for a better vaccination

Weaknesses

• Delay in the training of agents
• The actual formation of mobilisers didn't take place in all regions
• No modules for the supervisors

Action Points

• Forming groups very early on

Decentralisation

Strengths

• Occurred in 3 regions, Karas, Atapkamés and Lomés

Weaknesses

• Skipping of the shutter social mobilisation and non-engagement of the community

Action Points

• To integrate the shutter communication in the tools of scheduling and to engage the community

Involvement of all partners

Weaknesses

• Micro scheduling only made between members of the health service of the department
• Difficulties for the health agents to use the tools of scheduling
• Non-mastery of the content by the formatters

Action Points

• To exchange the content of the scheduling tools between partners before their exploitation

Local Resource Usage

Strengths

• Local radio stations, religious and traditional authorities, the departmental and prefecture directors, the prefects, the mayors

Weaknesses

• The gongonneurs or public criers are not participating as much as before

Action Points

• To place documentation at the disposal of the religious and traditional authorities so they might share with the gongonneurs so that the information is uniform

Financial Allocation to Microplanning Activities

Strengths

• Financial resources assured by the WHO

Weaknesses

• Financing set up late

Action Points

• To start the preparatory activities earlier

Internal Level

(UNICEF)

Strengths

• Production and realisation of small magazines with 2 radio stations. Girl FMS and the national radio and two TV, RT1S and the RDS with the Info-Com service

Weaknesses

• Weak follow-up of the activities especially financed by the UNICEF in the setting of the NID in the domain of the social mobilisation

Action Points

• To continue the daily meetings for coordination of the NID
• Engagement of UNICEF personal in the activities of the NID

External Level

(Coordination between UNICEF and national partners)

Strengths

• Regular meetings of the CNO, of the CCIA of the social mobilisation committees, of the logistics committees
• To shortening contacts between the representatives of the WHO and the individual contacts
• The meetings of the CNO and the under committee social mobilisation has been held regularly

Weaknesses

• The meetings are politicised a little to the point where the technical side is not often very well discussed

Action Points

• To maintain the rhythm of the meetings of the CNO
• To review the notebook of load of the CNO

Central Level Positioning of Inputs

Strengths

• Delivery of the vaccines on time

Weaknesses

• Delay in the freeing of financing
• Delay in the production of the support materials
• DSA put at the disposal of the mobilising 72h after the activities

Action Points

• Implication of the service of information of education and national communication to the local level

Ground Level

(Marking of children and houses, vaccinator recruitment, etc.)

Strengths

• Efficient marking of the houses in the majority of the districts
• The local recruitment of the vaccinators is efficient
• The census of the children in the houses by the agents mobilising

Weaknesses

• The marking of the children is not identical in all districts
• No cartography of the vaccination areas
• Access has been difficult because of the heavy rains
• All regions are not covered for the mobilisation of proximity

Action Points

• Formal training of the vaccinators agents with using role playing
• To push for cartography of the vaccination areas
• Arrangements are being taken for national coverage

Funding

Delay in the establishment and disbursement of funds granted to the vaccination. The action point is to help UNICEF to accelerate the process of transfer of funds by establishing contacts with the banks.

Engagement of the Leaders

Religious and communal leaders have been engaged by departmental directors, though there has been a lack of follow-up on the content of their messages.

Transborder Activities

There has been effective engagement around the border areas of some countries such as Ghana, though heavy rains have discouraged supervision in the zones of difficult access. Plans are in the works to place the large UNICEF vehicles at the disposal of national teams.

Message Diffusion

Two elaborate messages/spots were developed and distributed to 35 area radios, however, all radios weren't able to broadcast the messages because of some technical problems. The action point is to ensure that all radios will resolve these problems by the next NID. There was also delay in the diffusion of the messages, some were not conveyed until the first day of the NID.

Fast Assessment System

Strengths

• Assessment tool has been used for vaccination activities
• A monitoring tool has also been developed for area communication activities

Action Points

• Further revision of the assessment tool

Budget

• Evaluation mechanism and forecasting based on the microplans.
• Total budget for the NIDs: 22,299,500 CFA for the social mobilisation, though the 9,000,000 CFA allocated to area communication is 40% of budget.
• There were also delays in the transmission of financial resources, remittances were sent one week before starting but financing at the district level was received on the last day of activities.

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