Utilising Social and Behaviour Change Communication: Insights from Swachh Bharat Mission

Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) is a participatory communication strategy that brings sustained behaviour change among people. As a potent tool for attaining public health goals SBCC is instrumental in initiatives like Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), a Government of India program launched in 2014. UN Sustainable Development Goal 6 that guarantees universal availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation also aligns with SBM’s goal of universal cleanliness. Against this backdrop, the present article analyses the importance of SBCC in relation to SBM through secondary data analysis. The present paper identifies the current challenges that act as significant impediments to the mission’s goal of Universal Cleanliness. The article also provides a detailed examination of specific behavioural change strategies used in SBM, like the involvement of multimedia channels, community mobilisation, celebrity endorsement, SBCC material development, and interpersonal communication. These SBCC strategies have been proven to be profusely efficient in creating enduring behavioural shifts in SBM and have been instrumental in fulfilling the SBM goals.