The Meriem project (Mobilising Sahelian companies for innovative, large-scale responses to malnutrition), funded by the French Development Agency and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, was conducted by GRET and Hystra from 2018 to 2023 in the cities of Bamako, Ouagadougou and Niamey. Its aim was to support local companies in the development of fortified foods for pregnant and lactating women and children aged 6 to 24 months.
These campaigns, which are part of national policies to fight against malnutrition, were conducted via diverse communication channels in partnership with local associations and communication agencies.
In order to draw lessons from them for future similar actions, GRET organised a webinar bringing together more than 200 people to discuss one of the Meriem project’s SBCC experiences. Attended by various project stakeholders, the 1st round table drew up an assessment of SBCC multichannel campaigns in urban areas, and formulated several recommendations based on the limits and constraints encountered. During the 2nd round table, three organisations with extensive expertise in SBCC were invited to share their experiences of measuring social communication actions and making them sustainable.
This concept note features the presentations and discussions that took place at the webinar.