The National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR), an autonomous organisation under the Union Ministry of Rural Development, has recently partnered with UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund) to establish a ‘Communication Resource Unit’. Equipped with a skilled team will support in developing strategies and IEC (Information Education and Communication) material, rolling out plans and in capacity building to the Social and Behavioural Change Communications (SBCC).
The unit functioning under the leadership of Dr Gyanmudra (Professor, NIRDPR and Director of the Unit) will act as a mechanism to provide communication support to national flagship programmes including POSHAN Abhiyaan, National Health Mission and Swachh Bharat Mission. The Communication Resource Unit is currently operating in three states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka, to furnish communication support including capacity building and consultation, to different government departments. In the long term, the unit will be aiming to establish itself as an Centre of Excellence by generating a corpus that will help them to sustain without external funding.