PHE Behaviors in the Communities Surrounding Saandani National Park, Tanzania

29 Aug. 2013

Action for Reproductive Health (ARH) is pleased to share an important report from Conservation International. ARH has received permission from Conservation International to share this report about the Philippines as there are important lessons that can learned and applied to Uganda.

In sharing the report with ARH (and others), Janet Edmond of Conservation International explained the following:

The Building Actors and Leaders for Advancing Community Excellence in Development (BALANCED) Project is pleased to announce the publication of a report on the results of a Behavior Monitoring Survey conducted in 2012 in the communities around Saadani National Park (SANAPA) in Tanzania and a comparison with the results with those of a similar survey done three years earlier. SANAPA is the only terrestrial park in Tanzania with a contiguous marine area. It is a nesting ground for several endangered species of marine turtles.

In 2009, the BALANCED Project started working in the SANAPA area through an ongoing integrated coastal management initiative to develop and deliver integrated PHE messages through peer educators and community-based distributers of family planning commodities. In 2012, the BALANCED team conducted a follow-up survey to assess the changes in behaviors and attitudes resulting from the four years of BALANCED Project interventions. As with the 2009 baseline survey, the end-line survey assessed the status of population, socio-economic, health, and environmental conditions in six project villages versus two control villages. The 2012 effort also included additional analyses to examine whether there were significant differences in behavior changes between project participants and non-project participants.

A comparison of results from the 2009 and 2012 surveys shows that the population, socio-economic, health, and environmental conditions of those living around SANAPA have remained relatively stable between 2009 and 2012. It points as well to increased awareness of family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) in the target areas, increased support amongst men for FP/RH, and increased support (by both males and females) for conservation activities.

Please find the report at
http://www.k4health.org/toolkits/phe/analyzing-changes-population-health-and-environment-perceptions-and-behaviors-saandani