Rwanda has made great strides with its vaccination coverage. In 2011, it became the first African country to implement national human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination program. And in 2018, 350,000 children were vaccinated with the basic vaccine to protect them against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP). Each year, Rwanda works hard to maintain this momentum and ensure that its children and adolescents receive vaccines to prevent life-threatening diseases. Not only that, but work is done to address persistent challenges including nutrition, which further impact the health of children and adolescents, especially girls. Since 2016, Girl Effect and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance have partnered to protect girls, young mothers and their children from contracting preventable diseases and to promote healthy nutrition. In Rwanda, through its Ni Nyampinga brand (comprised of various platforms including a magazine, a radio show and Sakwe drama, self-starting clubs, brand ambassadors, an Interactive Voice Response, SMS and USSD line, website, and more), Girl Effect relays critical information to empower girls to eat healthy, while taking up vaccines and health services more broadly. By using an ecosystem of channels to spark behaviour change—as opposed to only one line of communication—Girl Effect is able to reach more girls and reinforce its messages. This helps to increase the odds of girls acting on the information. In 2019, Girl Effect and Gavi took this partnership one step further. Through a 17-month collaboration, Girl Effect carried out research to understand gender barriers preventing girls and young women from accessing health services and vaccinations, and how they make decisions regarding their health and the health of their children. Tiva Kananura is the Deputy Country Director of Girl Effect Rwanda, while Jolie Umunyanya is the Associate Manager of Evidence. I spoke with both of them to learn about their work and how it’s helping girls to make informed decisions over vaccinations and the foods they consume. Tell me about your roles and how each of you are involved in this project. T: I oversee the collaboration with key external partners and ensure there is proper communication with stakeholders on what the project is aiming to achieve in Rwanda. For instance, delivery on this project could not be possible without close collaboration with the Ministry of Health. Together, we’ve explored opportunities and strategies to engage and empower youth on the outcomes. We also work closely with the Rwanda Biomedical Centre. With this, I spearhead communications with RBC to ensure we’re working together in the design of our formative research, and that our activities are aligned with their strategic plans. We have further deepened existing partnerships with the Rwanda Girl Guides Association (AGR), the Rwanda Education Board and the Ministry of Youth and Culture, while developing new relationships with RWAMREC, the National Youth Council, Viamo and mobile network operations. The collaborative style of working on this project has enabled mutual capacity building and in my role, it has been a great opportunity to learn from and engage these and other Gavi alliance partners including UNICEF and WHO. J: With my role, I ensure our magazine and special mini-magazines—which deliver content on nutrition and vaccinations—are brought into the hands of girls. In collaboration with AGR, I oversee its distribution and our Brand Ambassadors who are young, female leaders based in 30 districts across Rwanda. They bring the magazine into their communities. A big part of this role is training our Brand Ambassadors to make sure they understand content in the current magazine issue. Apart from being a distribution manager, I’m also a researcher. As part of the evidence team, I oversee the collection of feedback, which informs and shapes our upcoming content. Within this work, what’s a special memory that each of you have? J: I remember this one girl who said to me, “I chose this career option because I saw a woman in the Ni Nyampinga magazine who’s a pilot. Now, I’m learning physics, mathematics and chemistry because I have a dream to become a pilot.” Moments like that really show how we’re creating an impact. T: The launch of our new IVR and USSD lines was a memorable and exciting moment. Young people can now dial 845 and engage directly with this content via an accessible and familiar channel. Since the launch in December, 80,500 callers have already accessed valuable information through these channels. Amazing. Moving forward, what do you see as the future for girls and young women in Rwanda? J: I remember one day when I was carrying out research on HPV. Most girls said they were afraid of getting that vaccine. Through this project, we’re able to reinforce messages that have real implications to girls and young moms. We tell them that vaccinations are safe, and this impacts their lives and their children’s lives. As a country and organization, we’re going to see the impacts and importance of this work. T: I’m very hopeful, particularly with seeing girls leading in what used to be male-dominated roles and industries. I also see more girls and women being at the centre of policy dialogues and vision setting. And within this, seeing women and girls have the confidence and creativity to not be content with what’s put in front of them, but inspired to come up with better and greater ideas. Needless to say, the work that these women and their colleagues are doing to promote girls’ health and well-being is not only inspiring, but is creating tangible change. To learn more about this work, and how it’s promoting healthy nutrition and vaccine uptake, visit global.girleffect.org or ninyampinga.com. The writer is Fundraising and Communications Consultant at Girl Effect Rwanda
