Description
Introduction
This presentation aims to document, explain, and analyze the rise of the Zero Malaria Starts with Me movement over a 10-year period, from April 2014 to April 2024. It is a case study demonstrating how effective movement building must begin at the grassroots in order to ensure not only the legitimacy and credibility of a movement, but also its catalytic potential.
The presentation offers an insight into the catalyzation process by which a simple idea can spark a multitude of initiatives – a ‘branching effect’ - that support a movement’s original objectives in innovative and surprising ways. This has a particularly powerful manifestation in the Zero Malaria Starts with Me movement, as it has sought to build society-wide, multi-sectoral momentum for malaria elimination, summarized through the 3 pillars of the campaign: political engagement, private sector engagement and community engagement.
Methodology
This presentation is primarily based on interviews conducted with key stakeholders involved in the creation and subsequent roll-out of the campaign, as well as an extensive desk review.
As Speak Up Africa was one of the key partners involved in the initial launch of the campaign in Senegal in 2014, and continues to be involved through country level advocacy support as well as regional support through the RBM Partnership to End Malaria, the author, a Speak Up Africa staff member, has privileged access to the institutional knowledge, networks and individuals that have been involved in various aspects of this movement from inception and pilot through to roll-out and expansion.
Results and discussions
The key takeaways can be summarized as follows:
1. Grassroots origins are essential for movement legitimacy and catalytic potential.
2. A dynamic ‘branching effect’ – the result of strong catalytic potential – is the lifeblood of a movement in action.
3. Engaging champions, private sector and civil society is essential to opening pathways to sectoral engagement.
4. Developing strong relationships with the media is paramount to a movement’s success and mass appeal.
5. In the sphere of public health advocacy, especially in the Global South where resources and bandwidth are consistently overstretched, it is imperative to play a role of supporting and empowering governmental public health agencies, as well as holding governments accountable to their pledges and obligations to their populations.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is vital to properly document, explain and analyze how and why movements take hold so as to develop best practices for the advocates, campaigners and organizations on the ground that are pushing for the action and engagement necessary to reach critical milestones of the SDGs, which in all too many cases are woefully off course. Zero Malaria Starts with Me is a movement from which key lessons can be drawn, and from which other public health advocacy and communications initiatives can learn.
| Contact Geneva Health Forum | I would like to receive information about the GHF 2024 conference and other GHF activities / Je souhaite recevoir des informations sur la conférence GHF 2024 et d'autres activités du GHF. |
|---|
