Janine Simon-Meyer

Experience

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  The Star

  Jan 1984 - Jan 1998

  Journalist

  Medical Correspondent, The Star, covering the post-democracy restructuring of South Africa’s public health services, clinical, research and epidemiological news and the emerging HIV and AIDS epidemic (1994-1998) General and freelance (1984-1994).

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  Meshmedia

  Jan 1998 - Apr 2020

  C4D/SBCC specialist, currently C4D consultant UNICEF SA, for Covid-19 Risk Communication and Community Engagement. As an independent practitioner I work at community and academic level and through all levels of governance, district to regional. My focus is research, strategic planning, capacity building and enabling participatory communication. Recent projects include developing the SBCC strategy for the National Food and Nutrition Security Plan (RTHD/UNICEF), facilitating the Communication, Media and Society module for Wits School of Public Health (SPH)'s MPH in SBCC and developing a guide for provincial and district social service practitioners to integrate SBCC programmes into social services (MOTTMacDonald /PACT). I've also worked with WHO AFRO and UNICEF (ESARO/WCARO) to strengthen national SBCC planning for immunisation, WHO AFRO to review member states’ immunisation communication strategies, and Wits SPH/WHO EURO on a social and behavioural tool for district managers to increase immunisation uptake. Through Sibambene (2002-14) I co-led numerous consultancies to provide SBCC technical support, programme development and capacity strengthening, primarily in SA but also in the SADC region. I was a facilitator for the UNICEF C4D Training Course (2013-15), on the team developing the SADC regional guidelines on SBCC for HIV and AIDS, TB and STIs (2014), and support the WITS MPH in SBCC on an on-going basis. Show less

  • Medical/ health sector mediator

    Jan 2017 - Apr 2020

  • Owner

    Jan 1998 - Apr 2020
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  Sibambene Development Communications

  Jan 2000 - Jun 2014

  Co-founder/Director

  Maximising the impact of communication in development through technical support, capacity building, programme development, research and advocacy. Sibambene's scope of work included: As Technical Partners on SBCC, providing comprehensive and site-specific support to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM)’s regional programme and local implementing partners (2005-12), and Thembalethu, Mozambique (2011-14), to build resilience to HIV/AIDS in migration-affected communities;As Capacity Builders, developing the SADC harmonized regional guidelines on SBCC for HIV/AIDS, TB and STIs (CSI Plus/African Development Bank 2013-14), and facilitating the Wits SPH SBCC Planning and Implementing Module for N’weti – Comunicação para a Saúde (Mozambique 2013);As Programme Developers, developing an SBCC strategy, implementation plan and tools to improve maternal and child health outcomes (PATH/ Billiton 2013), and an integrated response to silicosis, TB, HIV and STIs (Thembalethu SA/URC 2013-14) in mining affected communities;As Researchers and advocates, at the 5TH SA AIDS Conference, 2011 (poster), International Association for Media and Communication Research Conference, July 2011 (paper), and the 19th International AIDS Conference, 2012 (Poster/with Hlokomela/HTT). See: https://www.facebook.com/SibambeneDevelopmentCommunications/ Show less

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  Wits School of Public Health

  Jul 2019 - Nov 2023

  Visiting Lecturer
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  UNICEF

  Apr 2020 - now

  • Social and Behaviour Change Manager, UNICEF, South Africa

    Jul 2023 - now

  • SBC/Risk Communication and Community Engagement Consultant

    Apr 2020 - Jun 2023