Integrating Gender into Social and Behavior Change Communication

Gender equality is a shared vision of social justice and human rights – Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Women Executive Director An important step to integrating gender into your existing SBCC strategy or marketing plan is to re-evaluate the shared vision you set at the beginning of your program. Integrating gender into the vision statement requires that your team be open and honest about where your program stands, and how well the current strategy integrates and addresses gender.

The shared vision statement will guide the direction of the strategy by providing a picture of what the situation will look like in the future. It should be agreed upon by all stakeholders and will anchor the SBCC strategy or marketing plan by stating what the program hopes to achieve. A good vision statement provides direction, communicates enthusiasm and fosters commitment and dedication. It should:

• Be ambitious and go beyond what is thought likely in the near future.
• Be inspiring and motivating, calling to mind a powerful image that triggers emotion and excitement, creates enthusiasm and poses a challenge.
• Look at the big picture to give everyone a larger sense of purpose.

It is important to set a gender transformative vision that provides the opportunity for your project to move along the Gender Equality Continuum and for gender transformation to take place. A gender transformative vision allows the opportunity for the program to engage men and women, and to push for gender equality and better health outcomes. This will ultimately lead to gender equality and better health outcomes for men and women, and boys and girls. Setting a vision that is gender transformative will depend on the context in which you are working, as well as your starting point.