Volunteer Community Mobilizer

May 2012

Network Nigeria
Issue 01 Monthly Update STATE KANO KEBBI SOKOTO JIGAWA KATSINA ZAMFArA YOBE BOrNO NO. VCM 557 200 200 270 200 250 200 200

About the Volunteer Community Mobilizer Network Coverage

Volunteer Community Mobilizer from the State of Kebbi during May IPDs

ith the support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), NPHCDA, UNICEF and PEI partners have started to scale up a Volunteer Community Mobilizer Network targeting initially Kano, Kebbi and Sokoto. By end of July five more states will be included in the initiative:Zamfara, Jigawa, Katsina, Yobe and Borno. This initiative will contribute to reducing the percentage of missed children through targeted communication interventions house-to-house to generate demand for and acceptance of oral polio vaccine.

vaccine are still persistent. In this first phase, these volunteer community mobilizers are covering 557 settlements in Kano, 200 in Kebbi and 200 in Sokoto. Selected from their respective settlements, the volunteers have been trained to work as change agents in the community and are responsible for house-to-house mobilization for polio and routine immunization. They have started to identify and characterise chronically missed children and non-compliant parents through community friendly approach. Interpersonal counselling on immunization and promotion of key households practices such as treatment of diarrhoea, prevention of malaria and breastfeeding form the core of the volunteers work. Read more

A Volunteer Community Mobilizer will:

- Linelist all households within / scattered around her settlement - Be responsible for identifying, tracking and engaging families classified as noncompliant households / caregivers - With help of pictorial flipbook, conduct Interpersonal Communication with mothers to convey health education on vaccine preventable diseases, maternal health, hygiene and threat of polio - Prior to Immunization Plus Days, conduct house-to-house visits, engage mothers on polio immunization - Ensure that during IPDs and campaigns, all households are visited in the settlement and support re-do and revisit teams in the settlement - Provide necessary support to social mobilization activities - Collect data on the provided monitoring checklists and share with ward level volunteer supervisors - Ensure vaccination of all missed children within her settlement during each round

In total, over 2,150 settlement level volunteer mobilizers will be recruited, trained and deployed in the settlements where missed children and refusals of oral polio

For more information about the VCM Initiative, please contact : Naureen Naqvi, C4D Specialist, +234-803 823 4768, nnaqvi@unicef.org, UNICEF Nigeria CO

Volunteer Community Mobilizer

May 2012 Issue 01 Monthly Update

Progress to date...

Challenges
Insecurity: For security reason, the implementation of the initiative (including the launching) was delayed in Borno State. Difficult to find women who can read and write at settlement level Political pressure in some areas Some VCMs are not able to do their assignments. They are already engaged in another activity at one settlement Some VCMs are too old to even move outside their homes due to the fact that the selection was made over the telephone, field verification is required. The required criteria includes: an elderly woman who is able to conduct House to House Interpersonal Communication.

Volunteer Community Mobilizer from Kebbi State

Prior to the May Immunization Plus Days, 613 Volunteer Community Mobilizers were fully operational in the States of Kano (366), Kebbi (200) and Sokoto (47). Each VCM has started to identify and characterise chronically missed children and non-compliant parents through community friendly approach prior the May Campaign. Each VCM is now equipped with a

Pictorial Flipbook, Hejab, Bag and FAQ on Polio. During IPDs, they have assisted the Vaccination team to track all non compliance cases. Prior to IPDs they conducted house-to-house visits to linelist all children in their settlement. Social Data analysis is underway to measure the impact of the VCMs work on the reduction of non compliance and missed children.

Next Steps
First week of June: remaining cascade trainings of the Volunteer Community Mobilizers planned for Kano, Sokoto and Kebbi will be completed. 2nd week of June: Launching of the VCM Net Initiative in the States of Zamfara (250), Jigawa (270) and Katsina (200). In a first phase, the training will target 150 settlements per State. By end of June: Launching of the VCM Net Initiative in Yobe State. Social data analysis underway to measure the impact of the VCMs work on the reduction of Missed Children and Non Compliance

The VCM Initiative fully operational in Kebbi State, northern Nigeria

Selected from their respective settlements, 200 volunteer community mobilizers, covering 200 high risk settlements are fully operational in Kebbi State, in Northern Nigeria. They have been trained to work as change agents in the community and are responsible for house-tohouse mobilization for polio and routine immunization. Read more

For more information about the VCM Initiative, please contact : Naureen Naqvi, C4D Specialist, +234-803 823 4768, nnaqvi@unicef.org, UNICEF Nigeria CO