Advocacy International (Ai) has played a leading role in developing the public-facing side of a programme to save the lives of African mothers and babies – the Evidence for Action (E4A) project. We have been responsible for the development of an advocacy, communications and digital strategy; and the launch of a public engagement campaign: MamaYe!

Today 18^th February, 2013 the public engagement strategy is enhanced with the launch of six websites, one for each of the countries, and one a ‘parent site’.  The websites highlight news, evidence, and events organized by African-led teams in the six countries.

The programme aims to improve maternal and newborn survival in six countries in Africa (Ethiopia, Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Malawi and Tanzania.) It is led in-country by teams of African experts, and supported by an international consortium of experts based at UCL, University of Southampton, University of Aberdeen, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The programme is funded by DFID, and led by Louise Hulton of Options – the sexual and reproductive health consultancy.

The context

As our contribution to this project, we began by scoping and assessing public opinion in the six countries. Because we did not have funds for full opinion surveys, we had to rely on our own intelligence-gathering on visits to all the countries.  We talked to a wide range of African communications professionals, experts in the field, activists, representatives of faith, women’s and professional organisations etc.- and observed what was happening in public spaces, to discover whether maternal and newborn survival featured there.

We learnt first, that despite its high level of priority at international policy-making level, and despite the activities of dedicated MNH experts and NGOs, maternal and newborn survival was not an audible part of the public conversation in all of the six African countries.

Second, we became aware of a widespread assumption across the six countries: that death in childbirth was ‘natural’ to quote an educated and sophisticated woman we met in Tanzania, or that alternatively it was “God’s will”. This widespread resignation and fatalism in relation to childbirth we concluded, is one of the biggest challenges that policy-makers face in reducing maternal and newborn mortality in Africa. Resignation lowers expectations, and inhibits citizens from expecting and demanding improvements in the care of mothers and newborns.

Ai subsequently developed an advocacy strategy based on the evidence assembled by consortium partners, and which aims to use effective communication to demonstrate that with quality care, especially emergency obstetric care, many more women and newborns can survive childbirth.

The strategy aims to actively engage the African public in the issue of maternal survival, and to provide examples of actions that could save lives.

Reframing the issue

We know from George Lakoff, Professor of Linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley that:

“Frames are the mental structures that shape the way we view the world…they shape the goals we seek, the plans we make, the way we act, and what counts as a good or bad outcome of our actions. …To change our frames is to change all of this. Reframing is social change.” (Our emphasis)

From: ‘Don’t think of an Elephant’ by George Lakoff. Published in 2004 by Chelsea Green Publishing, White River Junction, Vermont )

In developing strategy and associated communications for MamaYe, Advocacy International worked hard at re-framing the issue: away from fatalism, despair and mortality and towards solutions, success and higher expectations of survival.

In developing both the advocacy and digital strategy Ai worked closely with the African experts in MamaYe! teams in each country to tailor messages and “asks” of the campaign to suit each country’s context.

Central to the communications strategy is the task of identifying those who use evidence-based solutions to ensure the survival of women and their newborns – in order to showcase and celebrate both the solutions and the achievements of those who contribute to survival. We are particularly concerned to demonstrate and communicate to the African public that much can be done by any committed person to save lives, by: e.g. encouraging women to visit ante-natal clinics, taxi-ing a woman to hospital in an emergency; or giving blood.

The re-framing seeks to raise expectations of survival, and to arm ordinary citizens with evidence, information, actions and above all, the confidence that will enable them to expect and demand higher standards of care for mothers and newborns.

The digital strategy

Ai’s team, led by Ann Pettifor, Georgia Lee and Jordan Chatwin, worked closely with the six African country teams, and the team at Options and with other distinguished members of the consortium, to produce and design six websites. These will be central to a digital communications strategy that aims to amplify and enhance the advocacy strategy.

We aim to ensure that the websites can be accessed by mobile phone. In other words, we aim to ride the digital revolution sweeping across Africa; to harness Africa’s telecommunications boom to reach a wide audience, especially Africa’s youth. That way, we hope to engage millions of Africans in the challenge of securing a healthy future for the continent’s mothers and babies.

Advocacy International is proud to have helped produce a new website for the African Union’s Campaign for the Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa (CARMMA).

The website promotes maternal and newborn survival, and provides evidence on progress in achieving the targets African leaders have set.

Ai worked closely with a team headed by Commissioner Gawanas and Dr. Ademola at the AU’s Department for Social Affairs. Our work was part of the UKAID’s Evidence for Action project, which also aims to reduce maternal and newborn mortality in six countries in Africa.  Ai is part of a consortium including the White Ribbon Alliance and experts in Maternal and Newborn Health (MNH) from UCL, University of Southampton, University of Aberdeen, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.  The consortium is led by Options, a London health consultancy firm.

Mrs. Gawanas has just finished her term as Commissioner for Social Affairs at the AU and is succeeded by Dr. Kaloko, whose statement at the launch can be found here.

Kerry Jang, Vancouver deputy mayor, receives the Guangzhou Award

By Jeremy Smith

Last Friday (16th November), the City of Guangzhou and its mayor, Mr Chen Jianhua, hosted the first edition of the Guangzhou Award for Urban Innovation to five very different cities around the world, facing very different challenges. The ceremony – which also included a colourful cultural display by leading Chinese dancers, acrobats and singers – took place in the Opera House designed by Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid.

Guangzhou (population 16 million, once known as Canton) is one of China’s top five cities, in the increasingly prosperous southern province of Guangdong.  The city’s GDP has increased at a rate of around 13% per year over the last 6 years. Guangzhou is now focusing much more on ‘next generation’ industries, and lays much greater emphasis on environmental sustainability and on green energy use.  In short, it wants to be recognized as a leading and progressive world city.

I was delighted to have been invited by Guangzhou to help as a member of the Technical Committee which evaluated some 250 initiatives from 150 cities in 56 countries.  We had met in October to winnow the submissions down first to a longlist of 45, then a shortlist of 15 really exciting and stimulating entries.  An international jury of five academic experts made the final decisions. On this second visit I was also asked to chair a presentation session by ‘candidate’ cities on urban governance and administration.

Jeremy with Gift Kasamira, Lilongwe’s City Development Strategy Manager

Our evaluation took account of factors such as importance of subject-matter, impact, replicability etc.  We also took into account the socio-economic situation of each city, as the context differs so widely between regions, countries and cities.

The final Award workshops and ceremony coincided with a meeting of the global large cities network, Metropolis, and also had the support of the international association United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) which I had helped to create a decade ago.  Guangzhou also invited its Sister Cities to attend, so it was a truly international gathering from every continent.

All fifteen shortlisted cities were invited to attend and present their initiatives in a special workshop; in the event the representatives from Medellin, Colombia, were unable to attend and present their ‘Digital Medellin’, but the 14 others were all able to take part.  Each made a presentation to the group and audience for 8 minutes (sharp!) followed by questions, which helped to broaden people’s awareness and understanding.

Photo: Mayor Chen opens the Award proceedings

The Award was finally made to these five cities:

• Seoul (South Korea) – for its social programmes for young people: teenage prostitution and internet addiction
• Vancouver (Canada) – for its Greenest City 2020 initiative
• Vienna (Austria) – for its programme to welcome and initiate new migrants to the city
• Kocaeli (Turkey) – for its earthquake preparation programme, with education, theatre and monitoring
• Lilongwe (Malawi) – for its city strategy based on a new mentoring programme with Johannesburg

There were many other initiatives and projects worthy of note.  For example, the ‘Green Line’ initiative from Aguascalientes in Mexico. This involved a physical dimension, by building a long (12 km) thin park along and over a petrol pipeline, which had previously been the dividing line between the richer and poorer parts of the city.  But it was also a metaphor for a major social programme across the city.

Or take the Taiwan port city of Kaohsiung, which has initiated a 24 hour one-stop free phone service (dial 1999) for citizens, linked to all key departments who have to respond rapidly to issues raised.

Or again the city of Dakar, Senegal, with its use of more traditional paving stones for road surfacing, which – in a sandy soil – are far more permeable than normal modern tarmac, and which allows water to seep through rather than cause flooding… whilst also enabling local young people to be trained and do the job more cheaply than through normal road-building procurement processes.

Guangzhou aims to organise the Award every two years.  I sincerely hope this imaginative initiative takes root, and fulfils its goal of helping cities around the world to learn from each other more and more.  The city has used its membership of Metropolis and UCLG to promote the Award and reach a wider audience, which is to its credit.  It has also lived up to its commitment to honour the independence of the Technical Committee and Jury in reaching our decisions.

In return, I am sure Guangzhou will also benefit – not only from learning from other global cities, but by opening the eyes of far more people to the huge progress (not just economic) the city has made in recent years.

Jeremy Smith (centre) with Chen Jianhua (left), the Mayor of Guangzhou and Wan Qingliang (right), Party Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Guangzhou Committee.  (Photo Source: newsgd.com)

Ai Director Jeremy Smith was invited by the Mayor of the city of Guangzhou, China, Mr. Chen Jianhua, to serve on a technical committee that shortlisted  cities excelling in urban innovation.  He attended the appointing ceremony in Guangzhou, China  on October 15, 2012.  He serves on the Technical Committee of the Award for Urban Innovation (“Guangzhou Award”) as one of eight experts from four countries, who evaluated 153 cities from 56 countries and regions of the world.

The Technical Committee then shortlisted 15 candidate cities and 30 expert-recommended cities from the 153 cities. A review committee will choose 5 winners from the list. Mr Smith will return to Guangzhou for the Gala award evening  November 16, 2012.