Company: Flagship Consulting Ltd & Sumitomo Chemical / Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS) Campaign: Me and My Net Category: Community Engagement Campaign of the Year - South - Shortlisted Objective Malaria causes 655,000 deaths a year, 90 per cent of them in Africa. One child dies from malaria every minute. Bed nets are vital in combating malaria, and over 200 million Olyset Nets (Sumitomo Chemical) have been distributed globally. The goal is for all vulnerable individuals to have a net, but key issues remain around the misuse of nets and lack of awareness about malaria. It is therefore crucial to engage the global malaria community in effective educational initiatives. Flagship Consulting (FC) created the ‘Me and My Net’ outreach campaign in order to: • Build relationships with key African youth/health/malaria organisations • Demonstrate Olyset Net’s commitment to malaria education to the UK malaria community • Position Olyset Net at the forefront of behaviour change communication • To educate young people on the dangers of malaria Target Audience • Sumitomo needed to engage with the wider malaria community, from UK based NGOs (and government bodies) to those in-country • Olyset Net needs people aged 11-15 to understand that proper net use will protect them and their families • Capture young people’s thoughts on malaria to shape future education campaigns • Create content that youth/health/ malaria NGOs can use to combat malaria Action FC approached the RCS proposing ‘Me and My Net’ for its 100th annual schools competition. FC consulted with key malaria NGOs for their desired output, including the launch briefing and feedback. RCS used its extensive networks to promote the competition through posters, E-Blasts, lesson packs, and launched the microsite meandmy.net, filled with myth-busting content.   The packs – linked to the curriculum – gave teachers a malaria prevention lesson plan, information on encouraging student participation, prevention advice and competition details. Entries could be written or visual to showcase ways of educating young people on malaria. FC supported two RCS team members to attend Me and My Net in school events in Tanzania and Kenya, including malaria advice from Olyset Net and lessons on erecting a mosquito net, created with local NGOs and government representatives. Targeted malaria-related organisations attended and participated. The entries were  judged by Olyset Net, Malaria No More and Ghanaian actor John Apea. The winner was brought to London to fly her country’s flag at the Commonwealth Observance Day (an annual RCS event attended by the Queen) and at the competition debrief event. Results • 2,161 entries, from 25 countries, at 167 schools • Entries from target countries including Uganda (34 per cent) Kenya (19 per cent) and Tanzania (19 per cent) • 12,034 visits to the meandmy.net website • Attendance and presentations at in-school events from 16 core youth/health/malaria organisations including: Ministry of Public Health, British High Commission, St John Ambulance Kenya, Department for International Development and AMREF (African Medical and Research Foundation) • 30 UK malaria community members attended the Me and My Net debrief, where winner Siya Kulkarni (15) from India, spoke. 50 finalist entries were displayed • The best entries will be displayed in Portcullis House at the APPMG (All-Party Parliamentary Malaria Group) Christmas meeting, to be attended by MPs, DIFD civil servants and the UK malaria industry • AMREF Tanzania: “The most important thing I have noticed from this competition is that young people are committed to solving health problems facing their communities, especially malaria. From this point of view, my colleagues and I have decided to pass through all entries received in our office and choose the best entry from each school. Those chosen will become malaria ambassadors in their schools, and will be assigned tasks including formulating malaria clubs at their schools, participating in community health activities and, by doing so, will help to speed up implementation of project activities.” • Ugandan Ministry of Education: “I am delighted to learn that Uganda was among the winning countries. I’m also happy to learn that children have been very creative and have showed interest in preventing malaria. In Uganda, malaria is the major cause of absenteeism in schools and eventually children lose interest in their education, so this is a very good project that we must continue to promote.” • Sumitomo established a section on its olyset.net/meandmy.net site as an information source for those involved in behaviour change, featuring some of the best entries Evaluation: 1. Position Olyset Net at the forefront of behaviour change communication: Johns Hopkins University (public health specialist), as a stage two partner for the project, is analysing 100 entries to examine the psychology behind them. This will guide future youth health-related education campaigns. The analysis will be discussed at Roll Back Malaria’s 2013 events. The findings and entries are on the Olyset Net website as an educational resource for those involved in health, education and youth projects. 2. Educate young people in Sub-Saharan Africa on net usage and the dangers of malaria: 300 lesson packs sent to schools. Over 100 pupils attended in-school events in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi. Majority of entries came from the key targets of 11-15 year olds. 3. Demonstrate Olyset Net’s commitment to malaria education: Launch event hosted by Olyset Net attended by 15 key members of the UK malaria community including Malaria Consortium, Malaria No More and Tony Blair Faith Foundation. Debrief event attended by 30 UK malaria community representatives including Comic Relief, Christian Aid and READ International, hearing the winner speak and seeing the mini-exhibition. 4. Build relationships with key African youth/health/malaria organisations: New relationships formed with organisations critical to Olyset Net including AMREF, St John Ambulance, British High Commission, Comic Relief, Christian Aid and Ministries of Public Health. FC is building a stakeholder programme to develop these relationships. 5. Undertake meaningful activity that leaves a legacy: Olyset Net is engaging with African and UK supporting organisations to ensure they use the competition findings in their own outreach work. FC is creating an in-depth report and take-away leaflet for the global malaria community to explore gaps and identify initiatives in malaria education. The APPMG Christmas display will be seen by key UK government representatives and those in the UK malaria community responsible for malaria advocacy. URLs http://meandmy.net/ http://olyset.net/meandmynet/ The PRmoment Golden Hedgehog Awards 2014 are now open for entries. Here are this years updated categories.