The John Hopkins University Center for Commu­nication Program (JHU.CCP) and Ethiopia Fed­eral Ministry of Health will be hosting jointly an inaugural International social and behavior change communication (SBCC) Summit where SBCC practitioners from around the world can meet both virtually and face-to-face to exchange modern SBCC knowledge and existing successful practices, including research. The International SBCC Sum­mit will bring together a community of SBCC orga­nizations and practitioners to advance the SBCC as a domain of scholarship and practice and eventually link SBCC to positive health outcomes and impact.
The objectives of this first International SBCC Sum­mit will be to provide a forum to contribute to build an active network of SBCC organizations, practi­tioners and researchers in the interest of ongoing knowledge transfer and collaboration. It helps also to disseminate latest and greatest evidence-based tools ( theories and models) and methodologies across the field of SBCC, with a particular focus on innovative approaches to research and program­ming. Furthermore, it allows SBCC practitioners and researchers an opportunity to have a network.
The summit is will be held from February 8-10, in Addis Ababa. The summit will focus on health top­ics, such as HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, family plan­ning/reproductive health, and maternal, neonatal and child health, as well as water, sanitation, the environment, gender and additional related areas. Anyone with an interest in furthering the science and art of SBCC is encouraged to attend. Registration to participate in this summit is now open with an early-bird discount for signing up before 30 October 2015 and, there’s a special rate for residents of Ethiopia.
To organize this summit, one National steering committee (NSC) and four different sub commit­tees were established by the FMOH. The sub-com­mittees include: Scientific/technical, communica­tion and documentation, logistics and protocol, and resource mobilization. CORHA is actively par­ticipating in the National Steering Committee and resource mobilization sub-committee.
For more information on the first International SBCC Summit, visit the conference wesite
http://sbccsummit.org/