As an implementation partner, Shakti Foundation participated in a commendable and timely initiative by Dhaka North City Corporation titled “DNCC Mass Masking Campaign” on May 2021 to increase and ensure the proper usage of masks among the mass as part of a global partnership platform involving Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA),Center for Research and Information (CRI), BRAC Institute of Governance and Development - BIGD and BD Clean. This masking campaign is based on a NORM model developed from a large scale RCT led by Yale University team and Stanford University, IPA and Green Voice.
On 11 May 2021 Honourable Mayor of DNCC Md. Atiqul Islam officially inaugurated the campaign at Rajlokkhi Complex, Uttara. Imran Ahmed, Deputy Executive Director of Shakti Foundation, Naheed Ezahar Khan, MP were also present along with senior officials from DNCC and members from all partner organisations.
Under this campaign, 150 volunteers distributed more than 50,000 free masks and tirelessly worked on the roads to aware 27,000 people about the importance of proper masking to fight Corona.
This campaign tripled the number of masks worn by the mass, and the practice even persisted for 10 weeks after the end of the campaign. While we are mobilizing our teams to implement the model at the mass level, both quantitative and qualitative research are being done by our partners to evaluate the effectiveness of the campaign. From the learnings of this initiative, we hope to escalate this project at a much larger scale and make mask wearing a norm to continue with economic activities while minimizing the risk of spread of the virus