With everything that is going on in the world, I have been practicing a lot of escapist behaviour and spending ridiculous amounts of time on Instagram reels and YouTube.
In my quest for escape, I noticed a few YouTube channels that I bet are great at changing people’s behaviour. A big advantage of YouTube videos is that they are free, and you can go back and rewatch videos as many times as you like and re-absorb the content that shifted your thinking.

Looking at training design through a behaviour change lens could be beneficial for training effectiveness. At the end of the day, our intention is to get people to do things differently after the training.

Every year, I work with several INGOs on applying social and behavioural science approaches to programme design. A thing I come across often is people’s discomfort with using the term ‘behaviour change’ in the context of international development. I understand where the discomfort comes from, and I think we should have a serious discussion about its use.

According to the HIPs, mass media is one of several proven practices recommended for widespread implementation as part of a comprehensive family planning strategy, provided that there is monitoring of coverage, quality, and cost as well as implementation research to strengthen impact.

Far too often, I have seen formative research used as a tick-box exercise. The formative research report should be a document that accompanies the project team throughout the programme design and iteration phases. It helps the team ensure that they are responding to real needs and not design interventions that no-one asked for.

Khartoum, Sudan is my city of birth. War is not new to Sudan, but a war breaking out in Khartoum on 15 April 2023 was a huge shock to the world.
The Horn of Africa (comprising of Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia and Somaliland) along with Sudan and South Sudan, are notorious for being turbulent and violent. Peacebuilding efforts in this region have spanned over decades, and building peace in the region is a specialisation of hundreds of scholars and institutes. Yet, whatever progress is made never lasts.