News

High-level Leadership in Strategic Communication Workshop Held

Bangladesh Knowledge Management Initiative (BKMI) organized a three-day High-level Leadership in Strategic Communication Workshop for 29 high level officials, including additional secretaries, joint secretaries, deputy secretaries, directors of different units and departments of Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, NIPORT, NIPSOM, and also senior level representatives from media and NGOs.  
 
This workshop was patterned after the Leadership in Strategic Health Communication Workshop that Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Communication Programs (JHU•CCP) offers in Baltimore, USA for the last 27 years and is tailored to the Bangladesh setting.
 
The workshop organized in a local hotel in Cox’s Bazar from September 1 to 3, 2014 focused on building leadership capacity to develop coordinated, consistent, effective and evidence-based communication interventions in health, population and nutrition. The sessions emphasized on leadership principles in the context of a range of relevant topics, including policy development; advocacy; communications; program implementation; and so on.
 
The workshop was organized as a part of BKMI’s initiatives to strengthen the Social and Behavior Change Communication Capacity of MoHFW, to improve the health and well-being of the people of Bangladesh.
 
The workshop was inaugurated by Mr. Md. Nur Hossain Talukder, Director General, Directorate General of Family Planning as the Chief Guest. Mr. Talukder thanked USAID and BKMI for taking such a noble initiative. He asked all the participants to make best use of this opportunity so that they can contribute better for an improved health outcome. Apart from the participants and organizers of the workshop, local level senior officials of MoHFW were also present during the opening ceremony.
 
JHU•CCP’s Director of Training and Capacity Building Dr. Benjamin Lozare was the lead facilitator of this workshop.  Dr. Lozare has more than 25 years of experience in teaching, researching, and practicing in regional and international level development communication. Besides Dr. Lozare, Dr. Abu Jamil Faisel, Country Representative, EngenderHealth, Mr. Mohammad Shahjahan, Director and CEO of BCCP, Ms. Rebecca Arnold, Project Director, BKMI and Dr. Zeenat Sultana, Deputy Project Director, BKMI were among other experienced professionals.
 
BKMI, financed by USAID, is implemented by JHU•CCP in collaboration with Bangladesh Center for Communication Programs (BCCP).