Nedwa, an Arabic word meaning meeting place for dialogue, is a newly created local NGO working in the field of communications for educational development. The staff of Nedwa bring with them 17 years of experience in the field of Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) activities and health campaigns in Mauritania. The objectives of Nedwa are to provide high quality educational tools and materials that are based on the needs and well researched obstacles of specific target audiences. Nedwa is today's only production facility in Mauritania dedicated solely to the advancement of health education and health promotion. The main areas of intervention of Nedwa are the following: 1) Communication research and evaluations, 2) Training, 3) Production of educational materials (video, radio, print). Nedwa is collaborating with Peace Corps Mauritania to improve and select a cookstove that will be affordable to the Mauritanian population and which will aid in the fight against desertification and respiratory infections. Peace Corps volunteers and community counterparts will be responsible for the technical execution of the project while Nedwa's media intervention will aid behavioral change. Funds for this project have not yet come through, but Nedwa and Peace Corps Mauritania hope to begin by the end of 2005.
Contact Information
Nedwa is based in Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania, in North/West Africa. The first nine months of the initiative will take place in rural settings in the Trarza region (southern Mauritania) and will eventually reach the regional capital (Rosso). During the following nine months, the project will be replicated throughout the other regions where Peace Corps is present. The project is designed to first begin on a community scale then expand to the national level. By the end of the project, peoples of both rural and urban settings, of four different ethnicities, and of various socio-economic backgrounds will have been reached.
Our Experience And Interest In The Four PCIA Central Focus Areas
The design of the improved cookstove for the aforementioned project was chosen with respect to the Mauritanian social milieu and cooking traditions. Because of its design, Mauritanians will not be required to change their habitual manner of cooking meals; they will only be encouraged to change the materials which they use. In the past, Peace Corps' bottom-up approach has proven effective in behavior change and has reached large percentages of the population. Nedwa will be producing educational outreach materials specifically for the project that will be used by Peace Corps Mauritania volunteers as well as government officials. These materials will address the health, environmental, and economic advantages of using the new technology instead of continuing with the hazardous traditional cooking practices. The combined efforts and experience of Nedwa, Peace Corps, and other partners will hopefully breakdown some of the social and cultural barriers and bring about change. Today 71% of Mauritanians claim that their primary source of information comes from Radio or TV, and 61% admit that at least one behavior has been seriously challenged due to a message heard on radio, TV, or seen on large image format. It is our hope that our message will be heard by this 71% and that an reasonably large percentage of this 71% will make the respective behavorial change.
As stated above, 61% of Mauritanians say that one behavior has been seriously challenged due to a message heard on radio or TV, or seen in large format, and this is why Nedwa plays such a vital role in behavioral change as well as in market development. Demand is expected to increase as Mauritanians learn about the improved cookstoves and its' benefits. Local manufacturers will be producing the stoves, therefore the demand will be met with constant supply.
The project does not intend to introduce a technology that is neither affordable nor available to the local consumers. We aim to introduce new and more efficient standards that build on previous and available technologies.
One of the project goals is to improve the health status of the community through the adoption of the new stove technology. Community health personnel and Ministry of Health representatives will be directly involved with monitoring and evaluation. The role which Nedwa and Peace Corps Mauritania volunteers will play in this component will be one of awareness-raising (about the hazards of indoor air pollution) . Overall, it will be a collaborated effort between Nedwa, Peace Corps Mauritania, and local partners to reduce indoor air pollution and respiratory illness.
Relevant Publications or Studies
We are not aware of anything that has ever been produced in this field in Mauritania.
Our Contribution to the Partnership
Nedwa has had extensive experience with the development of educational tools for the population and tools for the training of trainers. Advocacy is a major aspect of this project and all partners will assure that authorities in governments and local communities are participatory in this campaign. Nedwa is willing to share lessons learned as well research and behavioral change data with other partners. Educational tools and training tools can also be shared.
