Save the Children in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Population, National Health Education Information Communication Center (NHEICC), and the Association of International NGOs organized a national level COVID-19 and vaccine uptake Risk Communications and Community Engagement (RCCE) workshop.

Speaking at the event, Director of National Health Education Information Communications Center (NHEICC), Sunil Raj Sharma stated: “The threat of COVID-19 is still there, and we call upon organizations to work in collaboration with the government and design more community focused Risk Communications and Community Engagement (RCCE) actions which are guided by evidence to deal with COVID-19 and promote vaccine uptake.”

During the workshop, participants discussed best practices utilizing media, community engagement and outreach, evidence generation and social norms research on COVID-19 and vaccine uptake to design Risk Communications and Community Engagement (RCCE) actions. As one of the recommendations, the participants agreed that there was a need for a community of practice to discuss challenges, gaps, and opportunities in RCCE, which in turn would also address duplication of work to effectively communicate life-saving messages on COVID-19 and vaccine to communities. Further promoting a system of evidence-generation and community informed actions to initiate meaningful RCCE on COVID-19.

Tara Chettry, the Acting Country Director of Save the Children in her remarks acknowledged the achievement made by development partners, and the government’s leadership in leading the COVID-19 awareness and vaccination drive. “I have seen how the COVID-19 vaccines have sparked hope in people, and how vaccines work to protect the future - especially the future of our children. Therefore, we all play a vital role in restoring hope and confidence in our future.” She further stressed on the need for collaboration to reach the last mile by getting every Nepali vaccinated against COVID-19.