Social and Behaviour Change (SBC) is a comprehensive approach that focuses on influencing and modifying individuals' or communities' attitudes, beliefs, and practices. Drawing on the theoretical foundations of Behavioural Science, which includes methods from diverse disciplines such as psychology and behaviour economics to design and test people-centred policies and solutions that take into account the way individuals process, SBC strives to engender positive changes in social norms and behaviours through effective communication, education, and community engagement strategies. Its goal is to promote healthier, safer, and more human practices, related to health, migration, environmental issues, or other aspects of human behaviour. At its core, SBS recognizes that effective change involves addressing individual factors in human behaviour and the social and cultural factors that shape those behaviours.
At IOM, Community engagement on safe migration is one of the most prominent applications of SBC. Community engagement on safe migration deals with the active involvement and participation of individuals, groups, and organizations within communities in promoting and ensuring safe migration practices. This is done by raising awareness, peer education, fostering community dialogue, and encouraging collaborative efforts to challenge and address existing norms and values around migration.
IOM will share updates and changes on how we utilize SBC approaches and community-level intervention to reach our strategic goals on The Migrant Protection Platform. Staff and implementing partners may access practical tools and activity guides on our sister platform www.yenna.org.
Finally, social and behaviour change is built on the theoretical foundations of Behavioural Science, which uses theories and methods from disciplines such as psychology and behavioural economics to design and test people-centred policies and interventions – solutions that take into account the way individuals actually process information, make decisions, think about, influence, and relate to one another.
“Behavioural science is a critical tool for the UN to progress on its mandate. It can contribute to combating poverty, improving public health and safety, preventing and managing crisis, promoting gender and economic equality, tackling corruption, strengthening peacebuilding and all the SDGs.” - Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations