The Department of Language and Communication at Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (MUBAS) in collaboration with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) hosted the Social and Behaviour Change (SBC) Annual Partners' Learning Lab workshop at MUBAS main campus in Blantyre.

The two-day event, held from 19th to 20th August, 2025, aimed at enhancing effectiveness, scalability, and sustainability of SBC interventions in critical areas such as health, nutrition, education, child protection, and emergencies.

According to the Team Leader of the SBC-UNICEF-Funded Parenting Practices Project focusing on equity in education who is also a Senior Lecturer at MUBAS, Dr. Flemmings Ngwira, the gathering provided a platform for stakeholders to scale up innovative practices, refine monitoring and reporting tools, and strengthen national and district-level coordination of SBC initiatives.

In her presentation, a Social and Behaviour Change Specialist at UNICEF, Mrs. Patnice Jana, underscored the growing importance of SBC in addressing urgent development and humanitarian challenges. 

“SBC approaches centred on community engagement and evidence-based solutions are critical to promoting child rights, health, and equitable social development,” she said.

Jana further said that there is a need to periodically reflect on these approaches, given the ever-changing global environment, funding landscape, and the importance of becoming more efficient in the way SBC interventions are designed and implemented

The workshop brought together officials from various organizations, including the Health Promotion Division of the Ministry of Information, MBC - Development Broadcasting Unit (DBU), UNICEF, Applied Development Communication and Training Services (ADECOTS), Development Communication Trust, MUBAS, the Malawi Red Cross Society, Farmers' Union, and Initiative for Community Development Services (INCOS).