Achievements in Social Marketing, Communications and Training

My extensive work in Behavior Change Communication, Social Marketing and Training sprang from my commercial pharmaceutical marketing experiences in Canada. My pioneering social marketing of oral contraceptive pills and condoms in Sri Lanka in the 1970s led to many more consultancies and long-term positions, including living in Pakistan for eleven years. In Pakistan I created and managed the first nationwide contraceptive social marketing project while creating a nonprofit organization – now called Greenstar Social Marketing – which has become a major provider of health products and services, including training of thousands of health providers. 

My major international consulting tasks in Behavior Change Communication, Social Marketing and Training include:

Evaluation and Planning for next three years of Reproductive Health Project in Uganda. 2010 (5 wks). Employed by Futures Group. Funded by USAID.   Assessed and recommended ways to strengthen distribution and sales activities for the AFFORD Project managed by Uganda Health Marketing Group. Made recommendations for creating and managing a new profit-making company that will market health products nationwide.

Capacity-building for InterPersonal Health Communication in Zambia.  2009-10 (4 mo). Employed by Overseas Strategic Consulting, Ltd. Funded by USAID.  Assessed InterPersonal Communication (IPC) activities within the PRISM Project, including HIV/AIDS control. Suggested changes to IPC training and deployment of fieldworkers.

Social Marketing of Contraceptives for ITAP in India. 2009 (5 wks). Employed by Futures Group. Funded by USAID. Evaluated DKT International’s social marketing Project Management in rural Uttar Pradesh state.

Maternal and Neonatal Health Project Evaluation in Pakistan.  2009 (2 wks).  Employed by John Snow International (US). Funded by USAID. Evaluated contributions of Greenstar Social Marketing Company to the Pakistan Initiative for Maternal and Neonatal Health (PAIMAN) project.

Evaluation of Social Marketing Project for Maternal and Child Health in Afghanistan.  2008. Employed by Checchi Consulting. Funded by USAID. Assessed achievements of Constella-Futures Int., especially behavior change communication and training of health providers. Also drafted proposal for follow-on project.

Communication Strategy for Birth Spacing in Pakistan. 2008. Employed by Population Council. Worked with communication strategy team of the USAID-supported FALAH project to: (1) draft evidence-based papers on effective communication approaches, and on repositioning family planning toward birth spacing; and (2) develop FALAH’s communication, advocacy and mobilization strategy for birth spacing.

HIV/AIDS Risk Reduction Communication Strategy in Pakistan. 2008.  Employed by Agriteam Canada. Worked with the CIDA-supported HIV-AIDS Surveillance Project (HASP). Based on results of surveillance and other reports plus a planning workshop and interviews of Female Sex Workers, designed Communication Strategy to increase use of STI services, VCT and condoms.  Recommendations included: AIDS Risk Reduction conceptual framework; “push & pull” management cycle; multimedia communication; education-entertainment; IPC training of health providers who counsel Female Sex Workers; six-month field-test of activities prior to scaling-up.

Capacity Building, Greenstar Social Marketing Company, Pakistan. 2007. Strengthened capacity of Programme Support Unit to create and use Logical Framework Analysis.

Start-up national Contraceptive Social Marketing and HIV/AIDS Prevention Project in Yemen.  2005-2006. Employed as Team Leader and Advisor by Marie Stopes International for nine months of the KfW-funded project.  Worked with Ministry of Public Health and other stakeholders.  Facilitated workshops, designed workplans for supply chains, marketing, formative research, baseline and impact evaluation.  Hired and trained management staff. 

MCH project evaluation in India.  2005. Employed by Population Services International. Team Leader for external-internal evaluation of USAID-funded Social Marketing Strategies Project. Assessed management, implementation and effectiveness in three northern states. Recommended expansion of the model to other poor populations in India.

Safer sex for HIV/AIDS prevention in Bangladesh.  2005. Employed by UNFPA.  Worked with the National AIDS-STD Programme to produce the National Strategy for Safe Sex. Designed and facilitated workshops. 

HIV/AIDS prevention and care in India. 2004. Employed by CIDA as Team Leader for mid-term evaluation of the India-Canada HIV/AIDS Project (ICHAP). Assessed progress including gender equality. Recommended expansion.

Behavior change communication for nutrition in Bangladesh.  2003 & 2004.  Employed by JHU/UNICEF. Funded by World Bank. Drafted behavior change component of Bangladesh National Nutrition Project in context of child rights.  Developed training plan for health providers. Developed capacity of UNICEF to manage communication activities. Introduced social marketing to UNICEF staff.

Social Marketing of HIV/AIDS prevention in Nepal. 2003. Employed by Family Health International. Reviewed USAID’s community-based social marketing test market for HIV/AIDS prevention among female sex workers and their clients.  Recommended specific technical and management changes required for expansion to nationwide scale.

Social Marketing of Reproductive Health in Albania.  2002-2003. Employed by Marie Stopes Int. (UK). Funded by KfW. Produced successful proposal for NESMARK, the NGO that assists the government’s Reproductive Health program, to expand contraceptive social marketing activities including training component. 

Capacity building for Social Marketing of HIV/AIDS control in Namibia. 2002.  Employed by Marie Stopes Int. (UK) for five months as counterpart to managers of NaSoMa (National Social Marketing Programme) – to develop social marketing, advocacy and behavior change communications. Progressed toward registering NaSoMa as nonprofit business. Produced successful proposal to the German government for expansion of NaSoMa activities.

Social Marketing of HIV/AIDS prevention in Vietnam. 2001. Employed by JSI (UK). Funded by DfID. Examined achievements and recommended human resource development process prior to nationwide expansion. 

Reproductive Health Plan for Government of Pakistan. 2000. Employed by Options UK for five months. Funded by Asian Development Bank. As specialist in Reproductive Health, Training and Behavior Change Communications, worked with Technical Assistance Team, Ministry of Population Welfare, Ministry of Health, provincial governments, Multidonor Support Group, NGOs and social marketing organizations to:

• Develop in-depth situation analysis of public sector Reproductive Health services, training and IEC.
• Develop new planning concepts and workshop tools, including referral pyramid and power analysis.
• Facilitate planning workshops in four provinces: Balochistan, North West Frontier, Punjab and Sindh.
• Design plans for Reproductive Health services, training, advocacy and communication.

NGO capacity building in Azerbaijan. 2000. Employed by Save the Children with UNFPA support. Designed and led workshops for staff, donors and government officers to develop HIV/AIDS prevention and implement Reproductive Health activities. Completed Feasibility Study and Concept Paper. Introduced social marketing and BCC concepts. 

Social Marketing of HIV/AIDS prevention in Ethiopia. 1999. Employed by Royal Netherlands Embassy. Assessed achievements of DKT International and proposed sustainability initiatives. Proposal led to additional funding for development of products, supply chain, BCC, staff training and additional strategies for Reproductive Health

Communication Project for Social Action Programme in Pakistan. 1998 & 1999. 1998: employed by CIDA to assess feasibility of a social communication (SAPCOM) add-on to the government’s Social Action Programme. 
1999: employed by Cowater International to facilitate workshops for the design phase of the SAPCOM Project.

Environmental resource development in Pakistan. 1998-99. Employed by Worley Engineering to assess environmental issues created by 150,000 dairy cows in a Cattle Colony near Karachi. Explored cost-effectiveness of developing a local nonprofit enterprise to convert cow dung biomass into saleable electricity. 

National Nutrition Plan for Pakistan. 1995-1996. Employed by World Bank.  Worked with four provincial Health Departments to produce provincial proposals for the GoP’s Pakistan Nutrition Project.

Social Communication in Bangladesh.  1994-2001.

• 1994: Employed by PSI. Funded by World Bank. Studied feasibility of a private social communication enterprise. 
• 1996: Employed by Prospect Associates and Johns Hopkins CCP to develop a local NGO – Bangladesh Center for Communications Program (BCCP) – to plan the national "Green Umbrella" Behavior Change Campaign.
• 2001: assessed implementation of BCCP’s Strategic Plan.

Social Marketing in Pakistan. 1983-2003. Employed by USAID, PSI (four years) and Greenstar Social Marketing,

• 1983: Team Leader, USAID’s Contraceptive Social Marketing project planning team. 
• 1989-1993: PSI Resident Rep and Chief of Party, USAID’s Contraceptive Social Marketing project. 
• 1991: Founded Social Marketing Pakistan Ltd., a non-profit company, now named Greenstar.
• 2003: Developed Strategic Plan for Greenstar Training Institute.  Greenstar is a major trainer of private health providers and Pakistan’s largest social marketing organization, serving over 12,000 private clinics and shops.

Communication for Child Survival in Indonesia. 1985-1989. Employed by Academy for Educational Development for four years.  Funded by USAID's Child Survival Project. Resident Advisor to the Health Department's Center for Health Communication. Developed national plan for large-scale training of volunteers in diarrhea control. Introduced self-sufficient social marketing of Oral Rehydration Salts including training of health providers. Developed communication component for first national HIV/AIDS prevention programme. Created advocacy campaign for “brides-to-be” tetanus immunization. 

Social Marketing in Bangladesh. 1982-2007.

• 1982: Employed by USAID to evaluate supply side, demand side, management issues and impact of the national Contraceptive Social Marketing Project.
• 1983: Employed by Population Services Int. to analyze roles of oral contraceptive providers, users and their husbands.  Published results in “Studies in Family Planning”. Used the study as partial fulfillment for doctoral dissertation.
• 2007. Employed by Coffey International Development. Worked with Eshna Consulting to lead planning workshops for the Five-Year Action Plan. Drafted key objectives and strategic approaches for the Action Plan. Reviewed later draft.

Public Sector Communication Capacity in Pakistan. 1981. Employed by Asian Development Bank. Evaluated training and communications materials of the Population Welfare Department.   

Development of Training Skills among Outbound Canadians. 1976 & 77.  Employed by CUSO. Taught outbound Canadian professionals to transfer their skills to counterparts in developing countries. Introduced video feedback technique.

Contraceptive Social Marketing Pioneer in Sri Lanka. 1972-1975. Employed by Population Services International. Funded by IPPF. As PSI’s first international Project Director, initiated nationwide contraceptive social marketing project for Preethi condoms and Mithuri oral contraceptives. Major activities and results:

• Strengthened condom and oral contraceptive security.
• Designed large-scale before-and-after evaluative household survey.
• Recruited and trained management staff.
• Developed workplace education for male and female workers. 
• Created medical training and consumer education materials.
• Developed nationwide mass media communication.
• Developed Cost per Couple-Year of Protection (CYP) as indicator of cost-efficiency.
• Journalists wrote articles in New York Times, Psychology Today and Geographic Magazine.

Medical Supplies Security, Procurement and Dispenser training for Government of St. Lucia. 1969-71. Employed for two years by Health Department, Government of St. Lucia. Supported by CUSO. Used participatory techniques to develop National Formulary and logistics. Organized import & distribution system for medical supplies from Crown Agents. Developed training curriculum, then trained hospital dispensers.

Pharmaceutical Business Owner-Manager in Canada. 1958-67. Purchased existing pharmacy, then developed the business. Trained assistants. By 1965 the pharmacy was ranked in the top 5% of Canada’s most profitable.

Do you need my assistance? More information?
Email John Davies: jdavies@alephx.com