GAVI CSO Constituency Project with Funding Support from GAVI/ACOMIN

Willi Johnson Foundation was engaged by the Civil Society Platform on Health (CSPH) to leverage its extensive experience in community engagement to advocate for the functionality of Primary Health Care (PHC) and to continue mobilizing community and Local Government Area (LGA) support and ownership of the PHCs. The GAVI CSO Constituency Project successfully increased the uptake of routine immunizations and fostered community ownership of the process.

Several community-level activities were conducted, such as Focus Group Discussions, health talks with nursing mothers on the benefits of immunization, and house-to-house interpersonal communication sessions. These activities aimed to sensitize the communities of Imule, Ukhiodo, Ebhorua, Uguoben, Uwene, Idumeakon, Ekunanlen, Ihonmidumun, and Enogban in Illeh Ekpoma from Esan West LGA. The objectives included eliciting the perceptions and beliefs of community members on the principles of immunization, mobilizing underserved communities, and tracing defaulters to reduce cases of non-compliance with vaccination. The schedules were implemented to achieve the platform’s objective of ensuring defaulters receive immunizations.