Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Experts Share Three Years of Experience in Avian Influenza Behavior Change and Communication

Cape Town, South Afirca
June 25 - 27 2008

The USAID-funded behavior change and communication activities for avian influenza - AI.COMM and AI-BCC - managed by AED convened the Global Communication Leadership Meeting for communication professionals and donor partners in Cape Town, South Africa on 25 June. The dual purpose of the meeting was to share and learn from country and regional experiences and to synthesize these experiences to better plan and implement prevention, control and response communications to avian and pandemic influenzas.

The attendees of the meeting - in addition to AED's technical professionals included officials from USAID, UNICEF, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and OCHA - focused on vexing issues in the prevention and control of avian influenza: how to slow the spread of AI across borders and how to change behaviors and practices when there are economic and social disincentives to do so. Planning pandemic influenza communication and designing an AI framework were major outcomes of the event.

The Leadership Meeting also debut a show reel - a four-minute look at AI.COMM and AI-BCC's communication activities - and a poster exhibition highlighting country and program successes from around the world. The poster exhibition was accompanied by a catalog that included the posters and brief write up on the activity. The video, poster exhibition, and presentations from the meeting can be downloaded here: http://avianflu.aed.org/globalmeeting.html