Speed Post News Network
New Delhi : NITI Aayog, in partnership with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), Centre for Social and Behavioural Change (CSBC), Ashoka University, and the Ministries of Health and WCD, on June 25, 2020, launched a behaviour change campaign called ‘Navigating the New Normal’ and its website.
Focusing on Covid-safe behaviours, especially wearing masks, during the ‘Unlock’ phase of the ongoing pandemic, the campaign was launched in the presence of NITI Aayog Member Dr V K Paul, CEO Amitabh Kant, Principal Scientific Adviser Prof. K Vijayraghavan, BMGF Country Director Hari Menon, noted lyricist and CEO and CCO of McCann Worldgroup India Prasoon Joshi. As many as 92,000 NGOs and civil society organisations(CSOs) working with NITI Aayog participated in the virtual launch, which was done via a webcast.
Developed under the guidance of Empowered Group 6, constituted by the Government of India and chaired by CEO, NITI Aayog, the campaign has two parts. The first is a web portal, http://www.covidthenewnormal.com/, containing resources informed by behavioural science and the use of nudge and social norms theory, related to Covid-safe behavioural norms during the ongoing Unlock phase, and the second is a media campaign focused on the wearing of masks, according to a PIB release.
In his opening address, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said, ” As India unlocks, one key worry is how do we encourage the public and institutions to practise Covid-safe behaviours. Until a vaccine is available, wearing masks along with practising hand hygiene and social distancing, will be important to slow down the spread of the novel coronavirus.”
“Empowered Group 6 and Ministry of Health wanted that we give a nudge towards desired social behaviour in which the enforcement burden shifts from the Government to the citizens,” he added.
NITI Aayog Member Dr V.K. Paul emphasised that our future is dependent not on the virus but our behaviours. “If we create distance, wear masks, or use a barrier like a vaccine, the virus can’t spread. In an ideal world, if we create and fortify these Covid-safe behaviours, the virus will not be able to spread. Special areas of concern are small factories and poor labourers, who comprise a large part of our vulnerable population, and where and to whom these messages must penetrate and reach,” he said. Principal Scientific Adviser K. Vijayraghavan lauded the initiative and said the disease will spread in an unmitigated manner unless we effectively increase distancing.
Hari Menon, India Country Director, BMGF, said, “‘We are committed to our partnership with the Government of India and NITI Aayog to support the national Covid-19 response. We are honoured to work together with the Government on this novel initiative that puts behavioural science into practice, in an easy and simple manner, to encourage Covid-19 preventive behaviours. I am hopeful that “Navigating the New Normal” campaign will help normalise protective behaviours, especially mask-wearing.”
McCann Worldgroup India CEO and CCO Prasoon Joshi said, ” We must keep reinforcing Covid-appropriate behaviours till they become a part of our daily routine.”