Successful communication is one that builds a profile to which people can relate, and takes into account the need to identify all spheres of stakeholders for efficient and effective messaging, engagement, and advocacy. SMAA categorized its stakeholders into three strata: primary, secondary, and tertiary.

While the primary stakeholders include healthcare providers who encounter women and girls seeking guidance on self-managed medical abortion, such as ZAGO members, nurses, midwives, pharmacists, medical students – the secondary stakeholders include all actors, groups and organisations working to support reproductive health rights, and access to safe abortion care. These include, health institutions, health training institutions, law makers, law enforcement agencies, the media, as well as local and international civil society organizations.

The third tertiary stakeholders include individuals seeking abortion services such aswomen and girls who have made the decision to manage their pregnancies and are considering or have already choses the self-management route. Additionally, individuals or groups not directly involved but may be affected by the project if not well informed, such as traditional leaders, traditional marriage counsellors, traditional healers are capped in this category.

To cater for the communication needs of all these stakeholders,ZAGO recognizes the importance of strengthening a two-way communication with its stakeholders. This allows the sender to receive feedback from the receiver. Accordingly, ZAGO adopted the “Health Belief Model (HBM)” to guide its communication with all identified stakeholders. This model focuses on individual’s perceptions and beliefs towards health, and abortion in particular. It recognizes that people are more likely to take action if they perceive themselves as susceptible to unintended pregnancy or unsafe abortion – and appreciate the fact that the benefits of safe abortion/self-managed abortion outweigh the barriers or potential negative consequences.

HBM is a scientifically proven model, which demonstrates that people are most likely to take action if they perceive their health risks; feel personally susceptible; and if there are fewer costs than benefits involved. It emphasises that individual’s willingness to change behaviour is determined by their health perceptions.  The model seeks to address individual’s specific perceptions such as susceptibility, benefits, barriers, and self-efficacy.

Using this model, ZAGO is able to precisely make calculations, prediction, and devise personalized information and education, to enable all stakeholders to make well-informed decisions about their health and wellbeing. This model is critical to achieving the project intended results of creating demand and improving access to self-managed abortion care.