UNICEF India and Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) co-organized the state consultation “Mobile Phones: A Tool for Social & Behaviour Change” on 17-18 December, 2014 at hotel The Park, Hyderabad, Telangana.

The consultation was the fourth consultation in the series of the state-level consultations under the ambit of ‘Mobile Phone as a Tool for Social & Behaviour Change” programme, a joint effort of UNICEF India and DEF. The consultation aimed to explore various projects where women, adolescent girls and youth have effectively used mobiles in areas of health, education, sanitation, environment and monitoring and training of frontline workers. Trying to examine the prospects of how mobile phones are bringing social and behavioural changes among frontline workers, DEF and UNICEF India planned five consultations in five states of the country. The first three consultations were organized in Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), and Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh).

The main objectives of the consultation are twofold – firstly to explore and understand various mobile-based practices that have been effectively using mobile phones in area of health, education, water and sanitation and women empowerment. Secondly, the objective is to create a formidable platform to provide knowledge on diverse mobile-based implemented projects and help in developing partnerships between state government and MSBC players.