The ABCs of SBC

For decades, governments have tackled public health challenges with clear policies and well-funded campaigns, only to find that the outcomes don't always follow. Information alone rarely changes what people do. Across the world, behavioural insights units have quietly taken root inside governments, helping policymakers understand why people behave as they do, and what it actually takes to shift decisions in everyday life.
In this episode, Qali follows the setup of a new Behavioural Insights Hub in Sri Lanka, a partnership between the Ministry of Health and UNICEF. From the first week-long workshop with senior health officials, to early interest from the President's office, to the disruption of Cyclone Ditwah just as the work was getting underway, this discussion explores what it takes to build behavioural science capacity inside government, and why the slower work of testing, learning, and embedding new ways of thinking is where real change happens.
You'll hear from:
Dr Ranjith Batuwanthudawe, Director of the Health Promotion Bureau, Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka
Ukasha Ramli, Global Behavioural Science Lead at UNICEF
Ravinda Panchal Abeysinghe Wanninayake Mudiyanselage, Social and Behaviour Change Officer at UNICEF Sri Lanka
Dr. Senal Fernando, Medical Officer - Health Promotion Bureau, Sri Lanka
Dr. Ganga Tennakoon, Registrar - Health Promotion Bureau, Sri Lanka
Dr. Amanthi Bandusena, Consultant Community Physician - Health Promotion Bureau, Sri Lanka
Resources:
Video on the Behaviour Insights training conducted in Sri Lanka 
Please email sbc@unicef.org to learn more about UNICEF's work supporting behavioural insights units inside government
The views and opinions expressed by the contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of UNICEF or any entities they represent. The content here is for information purposes only.

The ABCs of SBC is hosted by Qali Id and produced and developed by UNICEF in partnership with Common Thread.

Check out UNICEF’s latest publication on Social and Behaviour Change, Hidden in Plain Sight, a celebration of the everyday heroes on the frontlines of public health outbreaks, or the first publication, Why don’t you just behave! For more information about UNICEF SBC, check out the programme guidance.

We care about what you think — you can share your thoughts on the podcast using this feedback form. For all other inquiries, please contact sbc@unicef.org.

A good school is a place where a child learns one powerful belief: I matter.
When children feel safe, heard, and valued at school, it can change everything - how they see themselves, how they learn, and how they imagine their future. Yet for millions of children around the world, violence remains a routine part of school life, shaping childhoods in ways that are both harmful and deeply normalized.
In this episode of The ABCs of SBC, we explore how social and behavior change approaches are helping to transform schools - and why ending violence in education systems is both possible and essential. Drawing on powerful stories and evidence from Uganda and beyond, we unpack what it truly takes to build a “good school.”
Qali is joined by three leaders working at the forefront of education and child protection:
Dipak Naker, Executive Director of the Coalition for Good Schools
Gemma Wilson-Clark, Head of Secretariat, Safe to Learn Coalition
Hope Wambi, Violence Against Children Prevention Coordinator at Raising Voices
Together, they examine why laws alone are not enough, how deeply held beliefs about discipline and power shape school culture, and what it means to take a whole-school, system-wide approach to change. You’ll hear how shifting social norms, redistributing power, and giving children real voice and agency can dramatically reduce violence — including evidence from the Good School Toolkit, which reduced corporal punishment by over 40% in participating schools.
From classrooms to communities to national policy, this episode shows that when schools change, childhoods change.
Resources:
Good Schools Toolkit
Safe to Learn Coalition
Coalition for Good Schools 
Raising Voices 
The views and opinions expressed by the contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of UNICEF or any entities they represent. The content here is for information purposes only.

The ABCs of SBC is hosted by Qali Id and produced and developed by UNICEF in partnership with Common Thread.

Check out UNICEF’s latest publication on Social and Behaviour Change, Hidden in Plain Sight, a celebration of the everyday heroes on the frontlines of public health outbreaks, or the first publication, Why don’t you just behave! For more information about UNICEF SBC, check out the programme guidance.

We care about what you think — you can share your thoughts on the podcast using this feedback form. For all other inquiries, please contact sbc@unicef.org.

How can behavioural data science improve social and behaviour change (SBC) programs? Where do machine learning and AI genuinely add value? And what can goat markets teach us about human behaviour?

In this episode, we explore the emerging field of behavioural data science: how it reveals patterns, frictions, and hidden levers in datasets that weren’t necessarily collected with human behaviour in mind.

Recorded at the Behavioural Horizons Workshop at UNICEF’s Office of Strategy and Evidence (Innocenti) in Florence, we hear from behavioural scientists, data scientists, and humanitarian practitioners working at the frontier. They share why better data starts with better questions, why context and culture still matter in a world of algorithms, and how behavioural data science can narrow the gap between evidence, decisions, and people’s lived realities. It’s a candid look at the opportunities, risks, and human choices that determine whether behavioural data science can help drive meaningful behaviour change.
You’ll hear from:
Benjamin Hickler, UNICEF Office of Strategy and Evidence, Innocenti
Luke Montuori, Senior Psychometrician
 Rebecca Moreno Jimenez, Innovation Team, UNHCR
 Rafael Batista, Princeton University
 Chiara Cappellini, Behavioural Science Group, UAE
 Alexandra DeFilippo, Sistema Futura
 Patrick Forscher, Busara Center for Behavioural Science
Resources:
Learn more about UNICEF Innocenti (https://www.unicef.org/innocenti/) 
Learn more about UNICEF BIRD Lab (https://www.unicefbirdlab.org/) 
The views and opinions expressed by the contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of UNICEF or any entities they represent. The content here is for information purposes only.

The ABCs of SBC is hosted by Qali Id and produced and developed by UNICEF in partnership with Common Thread.

Check out UNICEF’s latest publication on Social and Behaviour Change, Hidden in Plain Sight, a celebration of the everyday heroes on the frontlines of public health outbreaks, or the first publication, Why don’t you just behave! For more information about UNICEF SBC, check out the programme guidance.

We care about what you think — you can share your thoughts on the podcast using this feedback form. For all other inquiries, please contact sbc@unicef.org.

For generations, harmful practices such as female genital mutilation and child marriage have been justified as traditions of identity and belonging, and have, at times, been linked to misinterpretations of religious text – even as they cause life long harm. Today, faith leaders across Africa and the Middle East are reshaping these beliefs from within their own communities, using their moral authority and influence to redefine these traditions and protect the next generation.
In this episode, Qali Id speaks with faith leaders and UNICEF specialists from Uganda, The Gambia, and Iraq to explore how faith engagement is helping end harmful practices, in particular FGM. From sermons that reinterpret religious teachings, to interfaith alliances confronting resistance, to tea-circle conversations that replace top-down campaigns, this discussion reveals how transformation takes root when it begins within communities themselves.
You’ll hear from:
Sheikh Abdallah Sabila, Imam and advocate from Uganda
Dr. Nassim Majidi, Director and Co-founder of Samuel Hall, Kenya
Momat Jallow, SBC Specialist at UNICEF The Gambia
Hadeer Albo Heae, SBC Manager at UNICEF Iraq
Resources:
UNICEF Faith Engagement guide on Harmful Practices, developed in collaboration with Religious for Peace and Samuel Hall
Do you want to learn more on how does Social and Behaviour Change supports interventions in Child Protection? Tune in to our ABCs of SBC podcast’s episode on SBC in Social Norms and Harmful Practices, SBC in Preventing Violence Against Girls, Boys and Women, and SBC in Online Child Protection.
The views and opinions expressed by the contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of UNICEF or any entities they represent. The content here is for information purposes only.

The ABCs of SBC is hosted by Qali Id and produced and developed by UNICEF in partnership with Common Thread.

Check out UNICEF’s latest publication on Social and Behaviour Change, Hidden in Plain Sight, a celebration of the everyday heroes on the frontlines of public health outbreaks, or the first publication, Why don’t you just behave! For more information about UNICEF SBC, check out the programme guidance.

We care about what you think — you can share your thoughts on the podcast using this feedback form. For all other inquiries, please contact sbc@unicef.org.

Sudan is living through war and mass displacement. Yemen faces one of the world’s longest-running humanitarian crises. And in Moldova, far from active conflict but still grappling with inequality, Roma communities remain excluded from the very systems meant to serve them. Across these vastly different contexts, one question emerges: how do communities themselves step in to sustain and shape the systems around them?
In this episode, host Qali Id speaks with UNICEF SBC specialists from Sudan, Yemen, and Moldova to explore the unexpected power of trust, local leadership, and cultural respect in strengthening systems. From youth-run resistance committees, to volunteer health networks, to trusted Roma leaders bridging gaps in access, this conversation highlights how Social and Behaviour Change (SBC) enables communities not just to survive—but to lead the way toward more inclusive and resilient futures.
You'll hear from:
Maha Abasher Khalid Osman, SBC Specialist at UNICEF Sudan
Cristina Stratulat, SBC Officer at UNICEF Moldova
 Abdullah Alshehari, SBC Specialist at UNICEF Yemen
Resources:
Harnessing community engagement and multisectoral SBC approaches to address vaccine hesitancy in Moldova | UNICEF Moldova
Home | UNICEF SBC GUIDANCE 
Related episodes:
Episode 5 - SBC in Support of System Strengthening (Apple) (Spotify) 
Episode 11 - Community Delivery Platforms (Apple) (Spotify)
The views and opinions expressed by the contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of UNICEF or any entities they represent. The content here is for information purposes only.

The ABCs of SBC is hosted by Qali Id and produced and developed by UNICEF in partnership with Common Thread.

Check out UNICEF’s latest publication on Social and Behaviour Change, Hidden in Plain Sight, a celebration of the everyday heroes on the frontlines of public health outbreaks, or the first publication, Why don’t you just behave! For more information about UNICEF SBC, check out the programme guidance.

We care about what you think — you can share your thoughts on the podcast using this feedback form. For all other inquiries, please contact sbc@unicef.org.