In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), more than 2 million children miss essential vaccines at 9 months of age, leaving them vulnerable to measles, rubella and yellow fever.
This gap at the late infancy touchpoint is part of a broader global challenge: measles, for instance, remains one of the most contagious viruses on earth, and even small declines in coverage can trigger major outbreaks.
Reaching every child at the critical 9-month milestone is therefore a global imperative.
To understand why some families aren’t returning following early vaccinations, VillageReach and partners are supporting governments by conducting a multi-country study across DRC, Nigeria, Pakistan and Malawi. Using community-based participatory research (CBPR) and human-centered design (HCD) ensures that the voices of caregivers, health workers and community stakeholders directly shape the solutions developed.
Introducing Jonas, Peer Researcher
In DRC, one of these voices belongs to Jonas, a peer researcher and the protagonist of our new documentary. Motivated by his health care background and his own experiences navigating vaccination with his children, Jonas joined the study to help uncover the real reasons behind 9-month dropouts.
As he visits families, travels to workshops, and speaks with mothers, fathers, and health workers, Jonas hears recurring themes, including:
- negative past experiences at health facilities,
- long waiting times,
- forgetting due to the long gap since the last vaccine,
- access challenges, and
- fear of being judged.
These challenges echo global insights. The biggest barriers to measles elimination are not scientific, but systemic, social and rooted in trust.
Co-Designing Solutions, Together
During prototyping workshops captured in the film, Jonas finds that participants are motivated, energized and deeply invested in finding practical solutions. People bring ideas inspired by their own lived realities.
He observes that when communities propose solutions themselves, they become more committed to acting on them. This aligns with the study’s wider goal to generate locally grounded, scalable solutions that countries can adopt to strengthen 9-month immunization.
The stakes are high. The choice is stark. DRC has the world’s second-largest number of children who have never received a measles vaccine, and global measles cases are rising. But by listening deeply and designing with communities, we can build pathways for every child to thrive.