Main Kuch Bhi Kar Sakti Hoon (MKBKSH – I, A Woman Can Achieve Anything) is a transmedia programme that has reached millions of viewers across India over three seasons. It follows the journey of the protagonist, Dr Sneha, who returns to her village to work for better health and rights of women. The core of the initiative is the radio and television drama series, with extensions in local community radio stations, social media channels and through the Interactive Voice Response System. Season 3 of the show (broadcast ended in September 2019), had an average of about 0.87 million unique viewers per episode on television. It was supported by REC Foundation Limited and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The series inspired people from disadvantaged and marginalised communities to make positive changes in their lives. Some of their stories are captured in a web-series Reel to Real. Watch Reel to Real Stories here.

SnehAI is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered chatbot, housed on Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp messenger. The chatbot also has a voice-enabled feature on the website. SnehAI provides a secure, personalised and non-judgemental space for young people to share concerns and learn about issues related to sexual and reproductive health as well as online safety. Built-in Hinglish (a mix of Hindi and English), SnehAI uses storytelling, games and videos to engage users in conversations on a range of sexual and reproductive health issues like virginity, menstruation, contraception, same-sex attraction, masturbation and safe online behaviour. Chat with SnehAI

Bas Ab Bahut Ho Gaya is a celebrity-centered digital campaign to eliminate violence against women and girls. The campaign was a winner of the Global Grand Challenges initiative supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The initiative promoted innovations to effectively reach and empower the most vulnerable women and girls. The campaign was in partnership with film celebrity Farhan Akhtar’s initiative MARD and film and theatre director Feroz Abbas Khan. Through various activities, short films, campaign anthem, live concert, social media pledges, student film contest the campaign reached over 52 million users across digital platforms, with the unique hashtag #BasAbBahutHoGaya.  Watch the Series here.

Satya Ki Adalat is a web series hosted on YouTube, which deals with taboo topics related to sexual and reproductive health. Issues like virginity, menstruation, son preference and others are addressed with humour to reach out to young people. An evaluation done by the World Bank showed that the series shifted people’s perceptions on violence against women, giving them new information on a scientific basis while also making viewers more critical of regressive social norms. Watch the Series here.

Population Foundation of India supported the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in branding and development of the ‘Saathiya Kit’ a resource on adolescent sexual and reproductive health for peer educators under the Government of India’s Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK – National Adolescent Health Programme). The kit has SBCC materials produced by Population Foundation of India, including an activity book, a game using information cards, a question and answer book, short videos and a peer educator diary. The Saathiya kit was launched by the Ministry in 2017 and provided to states across India for use by about 160,000 peer educators – Saathiyas – as a job aid. In continuation of this initiative, we provided a customised SBCC resource kit to the state government of Uttar Pradesh in 2019 for their adolescent health programme.

While digital media is a powerful instrument to reach out to scale, the penetration and access to the internet by young people in many parts of India is still at a nascent stage. There is also a bias towards male users, leaving girls in the shadows of online communication. Keeping this in mind, an SBCC package with 3-D comic books, games and quizzes was developed for adolescent girls’ groups in Bihar. The comic books were also converted into interactive stories and are being distributed on mobile SD cards through a network of mobile charging shops in 2 the two project districts of Bihar.

Population Foundation of India developed a Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) package to combat gender inequality and discrimination for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in partnership with Action Aid India. The package includes an SBCC kit with games and stories and training for young people on storytelling through videos. The project aims to enable men and women in conservative communities to understand and examine gender and power dynamics and shift towards positive behaviours. The SBCC kit, along with community mobilisation and filmmaking, enables a core group of change agents to script new narratives in their communities.