Community Participation for Action in the Social Sector (COMPASS) Project

COMPASS draws on a number of communication strategies, as illustrated through the examples below. The main goal is to promote a sense of ownership whereby community members take responsibility for their own community's development.

Improving quality of basic education: COMPASS has introduced a number of interventions aimed at improving students' skills in math and literacy and increasing primary school retention and girls' enrollment. Carried out in both public and Islamiyya (religious) schools in Kano, Nassarawa, and Lagos atates, activities focus on teacher performance, community support, and integration of health and education, and are designed to:

• Promote the teaching of math and reading through Interactive Radio Instruction (IRI);
• Train teachers in teaching methods that are girl-friendly and encourage student participation;
• Empower Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) and community members to improve classrooms and school grounds to make them cleaner, safer, and more conducive to learning;
• Strengthen parent-school relationships by providing PTAs with technical and financial support;
• Promote and adopt school-based health and nutrition initiatives; and
• Strengthen the teaching capacity of colleges of education and universities to improve the quality of education in primary schools.

Promoting FP and quality RH: COMPASS works with local governments, health care providers, and communities to address safe motherhood, FP, postabortion care, HIV/AIDS, youth-friendly services (using culturally sensitive approaches), men's roles in RH (including men in RH discussions and encouraging their participation in decisions involving their partner's RH), and gender-based violence (or, GBV, emphasising community commitment to address GBV and working with health facility staff to recognise it as a health problem affecting women's RH outcomes).

Improving child health and nutrition: By working with community-based and facility-based health providers and advocating for under-5 child health policies at national and state levels, COMPASS supports child survival activities in 37 LGAs in Kano, Lagos, and Nasarawa states. These interventions address the following components:

• Malaria (e.g., training local Patent Medicine Vendors, advocating for the use of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs), and organising outreach events to educate communities);
• Nutrition (e.g., promoting exclusive breastfeeding, appropriate complementary feeding, and Vitamin A supplementation during National Immunisation Days (NIDs) organised by the Federal Ministry of Health);
• Immunisation (e.g. providing programme assistance with routine and supplementary immunisation in national training and social mobilisation working groups and monitoring and supporting NID activities); and
• Diarrhoeal diseases, acute respiratory infections, newborn care (e.g., strengthening the home-based skills of community health promoters through refresher trainings and promoting messages on healthy household practices).

Mobilising communities: COMPASS seeks to create an environment in which all Nigerians are involved in learning, planning, and taking action to improve health and education in their communities. COMPASS uses 2 conceptual frameworks based on participatory problem solving approaches: 1) Community Action Cycle (CAC) - encourages community members to work together to identify priority problems in their communities, define and identify solutions, and take action to improve the situation. The process also includes reviewing progress made in order to adjust strategies and/or address new problems. 2) Partnership Defined Quality (PDQ) - involves service providers and community members working on specific quality issues at the health facility or school level. Through these processes, COMPASS has been mobilising community members to establish 2 key community-based structures to facilitate participation: quality improvement teams and community coalitions. For instance, through the CAC process, community coalitions develop action plans; COMPASS provides technical assistance and guides the community coalitions in identifying strategies for implementing their action plans.

Contributing to polio eradication: COMPASS strengthens polio immunisation activities in the Federal Capital Territory and 10 other states through: micro-planning and operational preparedness (e.g., participating in advocacy meetings), supervision and monitoring systems (e.g. developing community maps), community and social mobilisation (e.g. exploring with communities and providers ways to recognise and build upon achievements), training, information collection and use, and rehabilitation of polio victims (e.g. helping them develop appropriate skills and knowledge for self-sufficiency and independence).

Advocating for improved social services and creating, supporting, and publicising policies that lead to better health and education: COMPASS works at state, district, and community levels to strengthen capacity for legislative action, increase awareness of policies that have been enacted to address social issues, advocate for leadership action in response to challenges, and promote community participation in using and providing services. One example of a relevant activity is building the capacity of local media outlets to support dissemination of policies and advocate for improved services in their area of coverage.

Building the capacity of Nigerian non-governmental organisations (NGOs): In an effort to enable NGOs to contribute to the development of their country and successfully oversee community-based interventions in education, child health, and RH, COMPASS provides the tools and technical assistance they need to successfully develop work plans, raise funds, manage resources, and implement activities.

Forging alliances between the public and private sectors: COMPASS begins by sensitising organisations, businesses, and individuals on the needs of the community. Once challenges are identified, groups are encouraged to support COMPASS initiatives through cost-sharing efforts such as donating needed goods and services. COMPASS also conducts advocacy visits to corporate organisations, influential individuals, and members of market and transport unions to leverage additional resources.

For further details on all these activities and strategies, as well as access to a variety of COMPASS materials (e.g., posters) and success stories, visit the COMPASS website.

Children, Education, Health, Reproductive Health, Gender.