In a commitment to fostering a safer society, Keready, a youth-led health movement, is dedicating its efforts to help eliminate gender-based violence (GBV) during the upcoming 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children Campaign. The campaign is a United Nations global initiative that takes place annually from 25 November (International Day of No Violence against Women) to 10 December (International Human Rights Day). Throughout the year Keready is actively engaged in educational campaigns designed to equip the youth, more especially young men, with the knowledge, awareness, and understanding of the lifelong negative effects that GBV has on the victims.
Dr. Dineo Sefoloko, a passionate young doctor overseeing mobile clinics in the Durban region, emphasises the significance of prioritising love, happiness, health, and safety. She remarks, "South Africa has one of the highest rates of GBV in the world. Let's unite to halt violence, curb the spread of disease, and eliminate any behaviour that poses harm to ourselves or others. It's crucial to reflect on what truly matters: our health and wellness."
Keready is able to do this through community events, and social media campaigns, as well as providing direct support for GBV victims.
With its 46 mobile clinics, run by teams consisting of nurses, drivers, mobilisers, and communicators and led by ten young doctors, Keready is actively engaging throughout the year in educational initiatives designed to equip young minds with the knowledge and awareness necessary to identify, prevent, and combat gender-based violence.
“We wish to get to the root causes of GBV with ambitious intentions to create awareness and behavioural change interventions towards a safer community for all. By being in the communities with our mobile clinics every day, we are often the first point of contact to come across these cases and we want to play an important role in referring people,” says young doctor Dr. James Menyah-Artivor, overseeing mobile clinics in Gauteng.
As the 16 Days of Activism unfolds, Keready extends and seeks to partner with individuals, communities, and like-minded organisations who share the urgency to address challenges associated with GBV. By nurturing awareness, implementing impactful interventions, and championing a culture of equality, Keready aims to act as a catalyst for positive change throughout this campaign. This commitment is evident not only through the presence of their mobile clinics on the ground but also in their weekly community radio chats and across their social media platforms, including @kereadysa, and their 24/7 WhatsApp line: 060 019 0000.
About Keready
#Keready launched in February 2022 and initially positioned itself as a ‘youth Covid-19 vaccination campaign’ with its #keready2flex Challenge, but it has evolved into a movement that seeks to enhance healthcare-seeking behaviour among young people and improve access to health services. #Keready now offers integrated health services, via 46 mobile health units, taken directly to young people.
Young people comprise well over a third of South Africa’s population making them a key demographic for social, economic and political change, yet more often than not they are excluded from decision-making that has a direct impact on them. It’s therefore not surprising that many young people are distrustful of government, business and society in general, especially when faced with service delivery having broken down, corruption, scarcity of opportunities, and limited social mobility or prospects for improved income growth. When it comes to health there is a gap in health services for young people with the focus primarily being on SRH services for women, and men are scarcely provided for or other forms of prevention either. Youth are also left out of the communication process that is aimed at them and aren’t likely to respond favourably to information that is state-sponsored or delivered by paid influencers with a hidden objective, even if it is for their own good. Instead, they tend to rely on information from their peers, professionals and trusted community members.
So, what do you do when you are trying to motivate healthcare-seeking behaviour, active citizenry and agency among the youth? Well you launch an unbranded campaign that calls on young people to be the creators of their own message and you provide a platform for them to roll out their own content. Keready put young people in control of the message, creating incentives for their participation in vaccination programmes and public health activities, as well as offering unfiltered health information. No jargon and no judgement are just some of the Keready principles for communication and mobilisation. It also recruited young ex-community service doctors to talk to young people about their health in a lingo that is palatable and relatable (Mogodu Monday, Skrr skrr and 4-5!) and uses a mix of platforms to engage. Unconventional marketing platforms that aren’t usually used for health promotion, such as Twitter Space, TikTok challenges, Weekend Guides, IG lives with a guest doctor, Health Reels, Podcasts and WhatsApp A Doctor, are part of the mix where youth actively engage with Keready.
The frank, unfiltered approach of providing health information from young doctors and nurses for young people, bolstered its credibility, and this age group has seen the biggest proportion of weekly vaccinations since the Keready launch. The message is clear you have to reach people where they are. The Keready team also forms part of DGMT’s demand acceleration team tasked with driving public communication and awareness, by supporting and working with the National Department of Health, and has been fully endorsed by the Minister.
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