9.4.1 Meeting with community leaders
Community leaders may include kebele leaders, clan leaders, religious leaders, elders and school leaders, and the leaders of women’s and youth groups. You should try to gather information about the community you are working in before you meet such community leaders. To increase the effectiveness of your meeting, you should identify who the relevant participants will be, decide on an agenda and what issues to discuss, and make sure that all those you want to attend the meeting are aware of the agenda, and where and when to meet. To gain the maximum benefit from the meeting, try to find out beforehand what the participants already know about immunization. It is based on this background that you can introduce the topic and build up useful discussions.
What issues might you want to discuss with community leaders?
Some possible issues are listed below. You may have thought of others:
- any concerns the leaders and families may have about immunization
- any religious or traditional beliefs about disease or immunization
- barriers that may prevent people from accessing immunization services, e.g. distance, seasonal work commitments, traditional festivals or customs, lack of money for transport, and inconvenient days, times or sites for immunization sessions
- the most appropriate times and locations for immunization sessions
- possible ways of reaching more children in the community
- whether immunization could be promoted by being mentioned regularly at religious or other gatherings.
9.4 Meeting with target audiences to promote EPI activities