Purpose This study aims to mark the 50th anniversary of social marketing as an innovative social change discipline; this viewpoint reviews “epistemological diversity” within social marketing and calls for its incorporation in the expansion of the discipline. Design/methodology/approach Cognisant of the visible (e.g., (APA 6.29) gender, age, race) and invisible (e.g., (APA 6.29) epistemology, experience, socioeconomic status) dimensions of diversity, this viewpoint focuses on one invisible dimension of diversity – epistemology. Using secondary data, an epistemological review of social marketing is undertaken by selecting five aspects that serve as potential indicators: professional associations, global conferences, education and training, research and publication and practice. Several recommendations are made to expand epistemological diversity in social marketing. Findings The epistemological review of diversity within social marketing reveals disparities between the Global North and South. These disparities are due to varying opportunities for participation in associations, conferences, education and training, and research and publication. In addition, there exist “hidden” social change practitioners who implement programmes in the Global South that are consistent with social marketing practice, but continue to be unchronicled and unheralded. Originality/value For many years, social marketing scholars and practitioners have been working to expand the boundaries of the discipline, with a focus on theory and application. Although the authors acknowledge that diversity and equity are inherently central to this discipline, epistemological diversity, specifically as linked to the geographies of the Global South, has been largely overlooked. Our viewpoint nudges the social marketing community into including epistemological diversity in the ongoing discourse around broadening and deepening the discipline of social marketing.
Access to water in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) continues to be a challenge to the extent that there are more people without access to water in 2015 than in 1990. This inidcates that current approaches to water provision has been ineffective. Governments have failed to provide a structure, mechanisms or aproaches that guarantees water for ALL. Resulting in a vacuum which has been 'filled' by a number of social actors (NGOs, Faith Based Organisations, Donors). This paper examines the social actors involved in water access and provision in Malawi andZambia analysing the existing methods and approaches used by them in the sector. It seeks increase understanding of the contributions and the nature of influence of each social actor group. This was achieved by collecting data on social actors through a combination of methods; focus group discussions, semi-structured interviews and workshops. Social actor analyses of the data shaped the findings.The findings indicate that water provision is multifaceted requiring improved coordination and cooperation among social actors to streamline and focus on the provsion of for ALL. It draws attention to the need for Governments to take a leading role by facilitating long term investment in the sector and promoting initiatives which incorporate the right to water access.It concludes that in order to achieve universal access to water, a new perception of rights and responsibilities is vital in communities, donors, NGOs and the public sector as one step towards reducing the number of people without water in the future.
Background The significant contribution of community-based distribution (CBD) of family planning services and contraceptives to the uptake of contraceptives in hard-to-reach communities has resulted in the scaling-up of this approach in many Sub-Saharan countries. However, contextual factors need to be taken into consideration. For example, social network influence (e.g. spouse/partner, in-laws, and parents) on fertility decisions in many African and Asian societies is inevitable because of the social organisational structures. Hence the need to adapt CBD strategies to the social network context of a given society. Methods Data collection involved structured interviews from August 2018 to March 2019. Randomly selected respondents (n = 149) were recruited from four purposively selected health facilities in Lusaka district, Zambia. Respondents were screened for age (> 15 yrs.) and marital status. A mix of categorical and qualitative data was generated. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS®24) was used to carry out descriptive analysis and tests of association (Fisher’s exact) while Nvivo®12 was used to analyse the qualitative data using a deductive thematic approach. Results The results indicate that pre-marriage counselling (pre-MC) influences key elements of the husband-wife relationship (p > 0.005), namely; sexual relationship, inter-personal communication, assignation of roles and responsibilities, leadership and authority. These elements of the husband-wife relationship also affect how spouses/partners interact when making fertility decisions. More importantly, the majority (86%) of the respondents indicated having a continuing relationship with their marriage counsellors because of the need to consult them on marital issues. Conclusion Marriage counsellors, though hardly reported in fertility studies, are important ‘constituents’ of the social network in the Zambian society. This is because marriage counsellors are trusted sources of information about marital issues and often consulted about family planning but perceived not to have the correct information about modern contraceptives. In this context, pre-MC offers a readily available, sustainable and culturally appropriate platform for disseminating accurate information about modern contraceptives provided in a private and personal manner. Therefore, the CBD strategy in Zambia can harness marriage counsellors by recruiting and training them as community agents.
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