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Where to Find CCP at the 2026 International SBCC Summit

As a SBCC Summit co-host and longtime leader in the field, CCP will have a strong presence at the conference, which opens June 22 in Panama City.
Summit
The weeklong SBCC Summit kicks off in Panama City, the first time the gathering has been held in Latin America.

The world’s largest gathering of people who use communication for social and behavior change opens Monday as researchers, practitioners, advocates and policymakers from around the world convene in Panama for the 2026 International Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) Summit. 

Over five days, participants will share research, innovations and lessons learned on issues ranging from health equity and gender norms to artificial intelligence, climate resilience and misinformation. They will make new connections, renew old friendships and hear from a growing share of young leaders helping shape the future of the field. 

“The Summit is more than a conference. It is a space where connections among people working across sectors and regions spark learning, collaboration, and action,” said Debora Freitas López, executive director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs and co-chair of the Summit.  

The Summit opens at an uncertain time when the social and behavior change field is facing funding pressures, changing global priorities and a growing need to do more with less. 

“At a time of significant change for our field,” Freitas López says, “it is more important than ever that we come together to share experiences, learn from one another, and identify practical ways to address complex challenges and advance equity and social change.” 

As a Summit co-host and longtime leader in the field, CCP will have a strong presence at the conference, with presentations from staff and partners across Africa, Asia and the United States. 

The Summit will feature a plenary session with Grammy Award-winning artist Rubén Blades, who will reflect on culture, identity and social change, highlighting the role of storytelling in shaping how societies understand and act on complex challenges.  

Other plenaries will explore themes including trust, equity, climate change, health systems and the role of culture and storytelling in driving social change. One session will highlight artificial intelligence and its growing influence on information ecosystems, while another will center Indigenous knowledge, culture and leadership in shaping more equitable approaches to global challenges. 

Summit attendees in Panama are invited to connect with CCP staff at booths 24 and 25 in the exhibition hall all week. Visitors can learn more about CCP’s work, meet colleagues from country programs and global teams and explore resources and tools that support social and behavior change efforts around the world. 

Across more than two dozen presentations, workshops, posters and panels, CCP will share lessons from programs spanning maternal and reproductive health, youth development, malaria prevention, gender equity and community resilience. 

Several presentations focus on trust, empathy and healing in complex environments. In Somalia, work with faith leaders has helped shift conversations around family planning by strengthening trust within religious and community networks. In Baltimore, community-rooted approaches to maternal health have shown how shared power and local engagement can strengthen trust and improve outcomes over time. 

Human-centered design is another major theme. Presenters from Ethiopia, India and other countries will discuss how involving communities in the design process can improve maternal health, reproductive health and health service delivery. 

CCP will also co-host an auxiliary event, “Designing Trust: SBC, Knowledge Sharing, and Collective Action Against SRHR Misinformation,” with the William H. Gates Sr. Institute for Population and Reproductive Health as part of the Stronger Together Coalition. It will be held Thursday, June 25 from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. 

Other sessions examine how social and behavior change approaches can help address youth employment, shift harmful gender norms, strengthen family planning programs and improve malaria prevention efforts. 

How to find CCP at the Summit:

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