Third Quarter Report: Year 3 of the Communication for Healthy Communities (CHC) Project in Uganda

The project's goal is to contribute to a reduction in HIV infections, total fertility, maternal and child mortality, malnutrition, malaria, and tuberculosis. To achieve this, CHC uses innovative health communication approaches, capacity strengthening, increased collaboration among partners, and rigorous research and knowledge management for health communication. The project's implementation is structured around three intermediate result areas: IR1, IR2, and IR3. IR1 focuses on designing and implementing high-quality health communication interventions. During the third quarter of Year 3 (April – June 2016), CHC provided technical assistance in the development, review, translation, and production of 34,488 types of health communication tools and materials in 18 local languages and English. These materials were on Life Stage one (HIV prevention, prevention of unplanned pregnancy, HTC, VMMC, condom use, and MCP) as well as Life Stage three (Saving Mothers Giving Life). CHC also supported the Ministry of Health (MOH) to strengthen the National BCC Working Group for Sustainable HC Coordination. This involved supporting the MOH to develop district HC coordination mechanisms. Additionally, CHC worked with the MOH to rollout the OBULAMU campaign, which aimed to promote health communication interventions at the district level. IR2 focuses on improving the coordination of health communication interventions. During the third quarter, CHC supported the MOH to strengthen the National BCC Working Group for Sustainable HC Coordination. This involved providing technical assistance in the development, review, translation, and production of health communication tools and materials. IR3 focuses on increasing research and knowledge management to enhance health communication. During the third quarter, CHC operationalized the MER/KM Task Force, which aimed to obtain scientific evidence to support a robust learning agenda. CHC also implemented a KM Plan as part of the OBULAMU platform, which aimed to support knowledge management of a robust learning agenda. The project's financial report for the third quarter of Year 3 (April – June 2016) shows that CHC has made significant progress in achieving its goals. The project has provided technical assistance in the development, review, translation, and production of health communication tools and materials, supported the MOH to strengthen the National BCC Working Group for Sustainable HC Coordination, and operationalized the MER/KM Task Force. The project's achievements during the third quarter of Year 3 include: * Providing technical assistance in the development, review, translation, and production of 34,488 types of health communication tools and materials in 18 local languages and English. * Supporting the MOH to strengthen the National BCC Working Group for Sustainable HC Coordination. * Operationalizing the MER/KM Task Force to obtain scientific evidence to support a robust learning agenda. * Implementing a KM Plan as part of the OBULAMU platform to support knowledge management of a robust learning agenda. The project's challenges during the third quarter of Year 3 include: * Limited resources and capacity constraints. * Difficulty in engaging with some stakeholders. * Limited access to some areas due to security concerns. The project's lessons learned during the third quarter of Year 3 include: * The importance of building strong relationships with stakeholders. * The need for flexible and adaptive project implementation. * The importance of monitoring and evaluation to track progress and identify areas for improvement. The project's plans for the next quarter include: * Continuing to provide technical assistance in the development, review, translation, and production of health communication tools and materials.