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Learning Collaborative to Advance Normative Change (2019)
SOCIAL NORMS & FAMILY PLANNING
20 Essential Resources
Identifying and Describing Approaches and Attributes
Social norms are the unwritten rules of behavior shared by members of a group. They can be protective or related to how social groups organize themselves, and can also be as complex and harmful as those norms that allow for violence against women. Social norms related to family planning behaviors—including those that discourage couples from discussing family planning, pressure young couples to prove their fertility soon after marriage, or frown on contraceptive use altogether—have a clear impact on health and well-being. For example, these norms influence birth timing and unmet need for family planning—outcomes that family planning programs aim to address. Norms-shifting interventions have the potential to transform harmful norms into norms that support positive family planning outcomes.
Publication
Webpage
Map
Learning Collaborative to Advance Normative Change (2017)
How and Why Social Norms Matter for Sustainable Development
Community-Based, Norms-Shifting Interventions: Definition
Integrated Socio-Ecological Framework for Normative Change
This collection of essential resources is for program planners, designers, and implementers who want to understand and measure social norms and social norms-shifting interventions and incorporate it into their work.
Curated by
KNOWLEDGE SUCCESS & PASSAGES PROJECT
How to use this collection
Introductory Resource
The resources are organized by focus area. Introductory | Program Design | Monitoring & Evaluation | Program Examples
Hover over a resource to see its format.
Top 20 Resources on Social Norms
Map of Social Norms-Focused Interventions and Research
Social Norms Background Reader
Learning Collaborative to Advance Normative Change (2016)
Program Design
Social Norms Exploration Tool
Institute for Reproductive Health, Georgetown University (2020)
Considerations for Scaling Up Norms-Shifting Interventions
Learning Collaborative to Advance Normative Change (2019
Everybody Wants to Belong: A Practical Guide to Tackling Social Norms
UNICEF (2019)
Community Group Engagement: Changing Norms
High Impact Practices in Family Planning (HIPs) (2016)
Social Norms and AYSRH: From Theory to Program Design
Resources for Measuring Social Norms: Guide for Implementers
Monitoring & Evaluation
How-To Guide for Social Network Diffusion Approaches
Tékponon Jikuagou (2017)
Program Example
Addressing Unmet Need for Family Planning Through Social Networks
Guide to Community Social Network Mapping
Institute for Reproductive Health, Georgetown University (2016)
Gender Roles, Equality & Transformations: How-To Guide
Institute for Reproductive Health, GeorgetownUniversity (2016)
Gender Roles, Equality & Transformations Project Results
Institute for Reproductive Health, Georgetown University (2015)
Gender Roles, Equality & Transformations Project Microsite
Institute for Reproductive Health, Georgetown University (2017)
Pragati Games Microsite
Institute for Reproductive Health, Georgetown University (2018)
Contributors Design: Elizabeth Tully, Anne Kott Writers: Elizabeth Tully, Ruwaida Salem, Anne Kott Technical input and review: Anjalee Kohli, Jamie M. Greenberg, Cait Davin, Ruwaida Salem About Knowledge SUCCESS Knowledge SUCCESS (Strengthening Use, Capacity, Collaboration, Exchange, Synthesis, and Sharing) is a five-year (2019-2024) global project led by a consortium of partners and funded by USAID’s Office of Population and Reproductive Health to support learning, and create opportunities for collaboration and knowledge exchange, within the family planning and reproductive health community. We use an intentional and systematic approach, called knowledge management, to help programs and organizations working in family planning and reproductive health collect knowledge and information, organize it, connect others to it, and make it easier for people to use. About Passages Passages is a five-year (2015-2020) USAID-funded project led by the Institute for Reproductive Health at Georgetown University that aims to address a broad range of social norms, at scale, to achieve sustained improvements in family planning and reproductive health. Passages is fostering normative environments tht enable young people to use modern family planning (FP) and achieve healthy timing of first and subsequent pregnancies through scalable programs.
This collection was curated and published in April 2020. Resource links were active at the date of publication. All images courtesy of Images of Empowerment: https://www.imagesofempowerment.org
Acknowledgements
This collection is made possible is made possible by the support of the American People through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the Knowledge SUCCESS (Strengthening Use, Capacity, Collaboration, Exchange, Synthesis, and Sharing) Project. Knowledge SUCCESS is supported by USAID’s Bureau for Global Health, Office of Population and Reproductive Health and led by the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs (CCP) in partnership with Amref Health Africa, The Busara Center for Behavioral Economics (Busara), and FHI 360.
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Social norms can dictate what people in a group believe is typical and appropriate behavior. These ideas represent two types of social norms: (1) descriptive norms are beliefs about what people do, and (2) injunctive norms are beliefs about what people should do. Social norms matter because they govern and uphold behavior and reinforce social inequalities and inequities, including gender inequities. This three-page brief defines what social norms are and describes how and why social norms matter for sustainable development, including how social norms influence behavior. About the Learning Collaborative to Advance Normative Change A network of experts committed to facilitating collaboration between organizations and individuals working on adolescent and youth norms-shifting interventions.
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Why is it essential?
When sustaining or changing behavior is a program goal, practitioners need to understand how, when, and under what conditions behavior is governed by social norms. This resource gives the basics in 10 minutes or less of reading time.
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With a surge in interest in social norms and their application to solve complex public health problems, there remains a lack of consensus about what constitutes a norms-shifting intervention and how it differs from other related forms of community-based programming. This background paper, available in English and French, reviews available literature on social norm change theory and programming, with a focus on public health, in an effort to answer critical questions about what constitutes a “social norm change approach.” The review draws attention to 10 key attributes that describe norms-shifting interventions, including seeking community-level change, emphasizing the creation of new positive norms, and creating a safe space for critical community reflection. About the Learning Collaborative to Advance Normative Change A network of experts committed to facilitating collaboration between organizations and individuals working on adolescent and youth norms-shifting interventions.
Identifying and Describing Approaches and Attributes of Norms-Shifting Interventions
Why is it essential? Earlier work on public health and social norms used a narrow definition of a norms-shifting intervention—one that assumes people have mistaken perceptions about the attitudes and behaviors of others. However, not all norms-shifting is connected to misperceptions. This review aims to bring a common standard and an operational definition to norms-shifting interventions.
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Social norms play a powerful role in shaping the behavior of young people and can have an enormous impact on their reproductive health. Social norms refer to the unwritten and socially shared rules governing a behavior, and not the behavior itself. Therefore, norms-shifting interventions differ from individual behavior change programs in their emphasis on influencing social expectations around rules and shared beliefs. In addition, many community-based programs work to influence behaviors but do not do so by shifting social norms. While it is important to understand what makes norms-shifting interventions distinct, practitioners should keep in mind that many types of community-based programs are needed to facilitate social change. The aim is not to turn every community-based program into a social norms program, but to see how social norms influence behavior and to incorporate a norms-shifting approach as needed. This brief, available in English and French, summarizes key attributes of what constitutes a norms-shifting intervention. About the Learning Collaborative to Advance Normative Change A network of experts committed to facilitating collaboration between organizations and individuals working on adolescent and youth norms-shifting interventions.
Community-Based, Norms-Shifting Interventions: Definition & Attributes
Why is it essential? Norms-shifting interventions hold tremendous potential to influence health-related behaviors, including those of adolescents and youth. This four-page brief outlines the key attributes of norms-shifting interventions to bring clarity to what constitutes a norms-shifting intervention and how it differs from other types of community-based programs.
This working paper, available in English and French, proposes a conceptual framework to increase the rigor of design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation of norms-shifting programs. The framework shows the relationship between social norms and adolescent reproductive health, pulling in gender dynamics and norms as a significant factor in those health outcomes. It acknowledges the central role of power as underlying gender and social norms and health outcomes. For those designing, monitoring, and evaluating social norms interventions for reproductive health, it can guide reflection on questions such as: • When do norms matter? • Under what conditions? • And what are the moderators of norms? About the Learning Collaborative to Advance Normative Change A network of experts committed to facilitating collaboration between organizations and individuals working on adolescent and youth norms-shifting interventions.
The Flower for Sustained Health: An Integrated Socio-Ecological Framework for Normative Influence and Change
Why is it essential? Conceptual frameworks can add clarity to the design, monitoring, and evaluation of interventions, and facilitate learning by providing a common language and set of concepts to compare and contrast program experiences and results. This resource provides a holistic yet practical framework that takes into account the contributions of a range of factors, including norms, on health outcomes.
In recent years, there has been great interest in better understanding and shifting social norms for positive health outcomes, particularly as they relate to adolescents’ reproductive health. If you want to dig into the literature on social norms, then this curated list should be your starting point! These Top 20 Resources on Social Norms advance our current understanding of social norms, share evidence, synthesize the state of the field, demonstrate foundational thinking, and serve as a great source for references. They include reports, manuals, peer-reviewed publications, and books on social norms theory, measurement, and practice. About the Learning Collaborative to Advance Normative Change A network of experts committed to facilitating collaboration between organizations and individuals working on adolescent and youth norms-shifting interventions.
Why is it essential? For many family planning programs, sustaining or changing behavior is an important program goal. In these cases, program managers and planners need to have an understanding of social norms to know how, when, and under what conditions behavior is governed by social norms. This list curates a wide array of evidence-based materials on social norms and social norms-shifting interventions into one convenient location.
When designing new social-norms interventions or improving existing ones, it can help to learn what others are doing around the world to inform your programs. Through this interactive map, you can search over 40 social norms-focused interventions and research projects by country, theme, or data collection method. Each entry on the map provides a summary of the project, its results, and related measurement instruments and tools. About the Learning Collaborative to Advance Normative Change A network of experts committed to facilitating collaboration between organizations and individuals working on adolescent and youth norms-shifting interventions.
Why is it essential? Social norms are context and culture specific. This map provides country-by-country examples of social norms interventions and research projects to help programs learn from each other’s experiences. It also includes links to project and research tools that you can adapt for your own use.
The impact on young people of harmful social norms, such as expectations related to gender-based violence, early marriage, and early parenthood, is receiving increasing attention, and programmatic efforts are underway to shift these norms. These efforts present an opportunity to advance collective knowledge of social norms: what they are, how to measure them, how they influence behavior, and how to scale-up normative interventions that show promise. This paper provides a broad overview of social norm theory, measurement of social norms, and scale-up and costing of interventions. Each section provides information on what we know, identifies gaps in our knowledge, and poses questions to move the field forward. About the Learning Collaborative to Advance Normative Change A network of experts committed to facilitating collaboration between organizations and individuals working on adolescent and youth norms-shifting interventions.
Why is it essential? Young people face particular reproductive health challenges, including high unmet need for contraception and unintended pregnancy. Many of these challenges are influenced by social norms, and therefore family planning programs may need to integrate social-norms interventions to make a difference. If you are new to the social norms field, this paper will give you insights into the issues that social norms experts have deliberated over the past few years.
The Social Norms Exploration Tool (SNET) is a rapid assessment tool to gather information about the community social norms that influence how people act or behave from a program perspective. Through five phases, it gives program implementers and managers the guidance needed to explore social norms in the community and decide how to address them in the program: Phase 1: Plan and Prepare. Program staff reflect on the social norms they believe may be influencing behaviors of interest, then define the objectives of the social norms exploration and select exercises to use in the fieldwork. Phase 2: Identify Reference Groups. Staff ask program participants to identify from whom they seek advice and who influences their behaviors. Phase 3: Explore Social Norms. Program staff go into communities to explore social norms with both Main Population Groups and the now identified Reference Groups using group discussion guides they’ve created. Phase 4: Analyze Findings. The program team moves into analysis and interpretation of group discussions to identify similarities and differences across Main Population Groups and their Reference Groups, including the types and relative importance of norms in influencing behaviors of interest. Phase 5: Apply Findings. Program staff use the findings of the social norms exploration to adjust components of the program to be more norms-aware. About the Institute for Reproductive Health, Georgetown University The Institute for Reproductive Health at Georgetown University strives to expand family planning choices and advance gender equality and has led several projects, including Tékponon Jikuagou and the Passages Project, focused on transforming social norms for reproductive health and family planning.
Social Norms Exploration Tool (SNET)
Why is it essential? In the past, formative assessments have not focused much on the influence of social norms within programs. As interest in social norms has grown, so has the need for practical exercises to identify key influencers and the right social norms driving behaviors of interest with critical inputs from communities. The SNET, which has been field-tested in more than 15 settings, fills that gap by providing step-by-step guidance, exercises, and templates.
Adolescents and young people, particularly adolescent girls and young women, often lag behind in health status indicators due to institutional and social barriers. Social norms frequently discourage young people from seeking reproductive health information and services. A focus on shifting norms around adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health (AYSRH) can accelerate efforts to improve their health status. Available in English and French, this working paper adds to the discussion of social norms theory and programming by considering the unique characteristics and requirements of scaling up norms-shifting interventions specific to AYSRH. This resource will help you: Understand why and in what contexts an organization should scale up social norms around AYSRH. Learn practical considerations for designing scalable norms-shifting interventions. The considerations included in this paper build on existing scale-up models, implementation reviews, guidance, and the Learning Collaborative members’ own experiences. About the Learning Collaborative to Advance Normative Change A network of experts committed to facilitating collaboration between organizations and individuals working on adolescent and youth norms-shifting interventions.
Considerations for Scaling Up Norms-Shifting Interventions for Adolescent and Youth Sexual and Reproductive Health
Why is it essential? If you are looking to scale up existing or new AYSRH norms-shifting interventions, this working paper will lead you through the different scale-up possibilities. It builds on more typical scenarios of scale-up, such as scaling a new practice within a health care delivery system, and outlines what questions to ask and how to begin to answer those questions.
This guide focuses on the role that social norms play in perpetuating or changing harmful behaviors and provides best practices for programming. Pulling together 24 tools and concrete examples, the guide provides step-by-step instructions for designing and implementing social norms programming, as well as tips and techniques that have been successfully employed in real-world settings. The guide will help the reader explore the theory behind behavior change and social norms programming, give key steps to build and budget an evidence-based program, and provide information for implementation, including best practices for scale-up and adaptation. About UNICEF UNICEF works to protect the rights of every child in nearly 200 countries across the world, including those harmful behaviors and social expectations that stand in the way of women and children’s rights.
Everybody Wants to Belong: A Practical Guide to Tackling and Leveraging Social Norms in Behavior Change Programming
Why is it essential? Any collective behavior can be motivated by a complex set of drivers, which may not be readily obvious. Typical behavior change programming tends to focus on individual factors and neglect social influences. But when collective practices are partly driven by social norms, they warrant very specific interventions. This guide explores this specificity in an accessible and engaging way.
Engaging and mobilizing communities in group dialogue, such as through mapping exercises, social network approaches, exploratory games, and dramas, can foster healthy sexual and reproductive health behaviors. This brief describes the evidence and programmatic experience related to community group engagement interventions in family planning. It incorporates relevant information from more than 50 published articles and resources in a short brief to give program implementers and policy makers the essential information they need on the impact of community group engagement and tips on how to do it. HIP briefs are evidence-based family planning practices vetted by experts and documented in an easy-to-use format to help build consensus around our current understanding of what works in family planning. This High Impact Practice has demonstrated impact across Africa and Asia. About HIPs HIPs are produced by family planning technical experts and endorsed by more than 30 organizations focused on family planning and reproductive health.
Community Group Engagement: Changing Norms to Improve Sexual and Reproductive Health
Why is it essential? Community group engagement has been shown to be associated with higher levels of contraceptive use, is a promising and critical component of comprehensive adolescent sexual and reproductive health programming, and has been implemented in other health areas at scale and cost-effectively.
Curating knowledge from practice-based evidence, the experience of Learning Collaborative members, and social norms research findings, this paper summarizes current understanding about social norms-shifting interventions and relevant behavior change theories and describes how to develop a theory of change as part of program design. It also covers how to prevent or mitigate implementation challenges that may arise and offers several examples of real-life adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health (AYSRH) programs that have bridged the gap between theory and practice. About the Learning Collaborative to Advance Normative Change A network of experts committed to facilitating collaboration between organizations and individuals working on adolescent and youth norms-shifting interventions.
Social Norms and AYSRH: Building a Bridge From Theory to Program Design
Why is it essential? A growing body of evidence demonstrates that, to achieve sustained and meaningful improvements in AYSRH, programs must address the expectations and unwritten rules surrounding acceptable behavior for youth and adolescents as they transition into adulthood. This paper provides guidance on how to translate complex social norms concepts and academic theory into effective interventions that sensitively address social norms surrounding AYSRH.
Good social norms programming requires careful, thoughtful exploration and measurement. This guide provides practical, actionable guidance on measurement of social norms in reproductive health programs based on how much information you already have about the relevant social norms in your programmatic context - from a broad exploration of social norms to a much more refined and precise understanding of the social norms that prevail in your program area and how your program can address them. The guide also provides examples of how to collect social norms data based on accepted measurement approaches. It is built on data collection tools, theories of change, and documentation of insights into the measurement of social norms and its implication for programming. About the Learning Collaborative to Advance Normative Change A network of experts committed to facilitating collaboration between organizations and individuals working on adolescent and youth norms-shifting interventions.
Resources for Measuring Social Norms: A Practical Guide for Program Implementers
Many norms-shifting programs are being taken to scale, often with very little evidence that they actually result in the intended shifts to social norms or to related behaviors. This is due in part to a lack of understanding of effective ways to measure social norms. This guide offers insight on and examples of how to measure social norms and how to use the information in programs to achieve desired behavior change.
Why is it essential? Many norms-shifting programs are being taken to scale, often with very little evidence that they actually result in the intended shifts to social norms or to related behaviors. This is due in part to a lack of understanding of effective ways to measure social norms. This guide offers insight on and examples of how to measure social norms and how to use the information in programs to achieve desired behavior change.
Tékponon Jikuagou, a USAID-funded five-year project in Benin that ended in 2017, developed and tested a scalable package of social network activities to engage men and women in discussion and reflection about unmet need for family planning. The package works with and through influential and connected network actors who may be more effective in diffusing new ideas and mobilizing public dialogue than formal leaders or health workers alone. Based on the successful pilot that demonstrated the effectiveness of the approach, this comprehensive How-To Guide provides everything you need to replicate the project’s social networks diffusion package in the field. The social network intervention can be used as a stand-alone initiative or as part of ongoing health and development programs and is available in English and French. About Tékponon Jikuagou Tékponon Jikuagou aimed to reduce social barriers to meeting family planning need and to develop, test, and scale-up an easily replicable package that harnessed existing social networks to create an environment that supported women and men to meet their need for family planning.
How-To Guide for Social Network Diffusion Approaches to Overcome Social Obstacles to Family Planning Use
Why is it essential? Tékponon Jikuagou has overcome social barriers contributing to low rates of family planning use in southwest Benin through a social networks diffusion approach. This guide outlines a low-technology, low-resource tested model proven to be effective in addressing the social and gender barriers that discourage women and men who want to space or limit births from taking actions to seek services.
Tékponon Jikuagou has overcome social barriers contributing to low rates of family planning use in southwest Benin through a social networks diffusion approach. This guide outlines a low-technology, low-resource tested model proven to be effective in addressing the social and gender barriers that discourage women and men who want to space or limit births from taking actions to seek services.
This brief, available in English and French, shares the pilot findings of the Tékponon Jikuagou project in Benin, which aimed to develop and test a scalable package of social network activities to engage men and women in discussion and reflection about unmet need for family planning. The project used social mapping, reflective dialogue, and radio programming, among other activities, to understand and reduce barriers that prevent women and men from acting on their unmet need for family planning. The brief shares the lessons learned, effectiveness of the approach, and scalability considerations that can inform other programs considering using social network activities to address unmet need for family planning. About Tékponon Jikuagou Tékponon Jikuagou aimed to reduce social barriers to meeting family planning need and to develop, test, and scale-up an easily replicable package that harnessed existing social networks to create an environment that supported women and men to meet their need for family planning.
Addressing Unmet Need for Family Planning Through Social Networks in Benin
Why is it essential? Tékponon Jikuagou’s use of social network activities aims to increase acceptability of discussions concerning family size and family planning use. The success of Tékponon Jikuagou demonstrates that it is possible to design effective community-based, social change interventions simple enough to be scaled.
Tékponon Jikuagou’s use of social network activities aims to increase acceptability of discussions concerning family size and family planning use. The success of Tékponon Jikuagou demonstrates that it is possible to design effective community-based, social change interventions simple enough to be scaled.
The Tékponon Jikuagou project sought to address the concept of unmet need among women who want to limit or space their births but who are not using contraception by addressing social norms and barriers that influence non-use despite access to services. The project, implemented in Benin, used a participatory social network mapping process, which allows communities to identify the most influential and connected village groups and individuals, during a two- to three-day mapping process, to assess the influence of men’s and women’s networks on fertility beliefs, attitudes, desires, intentions, and behaviors relating to family planning. Resource 1 guides communities through a series of activities to identify, list, and analyze the most influential groups and people in their communities through a step-by-step process. Resource 2 goes hand-in-hand with the first resource, providing tools and templates to capture and report the findings from the social network mapping process. About Tékponon Jikuagou Tékponon Jikuagou aimed to reduce social barriers to meeting family planning need and to develop, test, and scale-up an easily replicable package that harnessed existing social networks to create an environment that supported women and men to meet their need for family planning.
Tékponon Jikuagou Guide to Community Social Network Mapping
Research shows an individual’s social network (e.g. spouse, mother-in-law, and friends) has great influence on his or her fertility desires and reproductive health. Addressing the overall context in which reproductive health decisions are made could accelerate the progress towards reducing unmet need. These resources help programs identify socially-connected and respected groups and individuals and determine how to engage them in their project activities.
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This How-To Guide, available in English and French, is from the Gender Roles, Equality, and Transformations (GREAT) Project, an evidence-based intervention that succeeded in improving gender norms related to sexual and reproductive health and gender-based violence in Northern Uganda. GREAT was created based on a review of 61 effective sexual and reproductive health and gender-based violence programs for youth around the world, evaluating their scalability, combined with primary information collected from adolescents, their parents, and community leaders about the challenges and opportunities of growing up in Northern Uganda. GREAT aims to reach the majority of people in a community through different activities to bring about communitywide change. It was designed to require only modest investments of time and money to allow for expansion of activities across the region. GREAT provides information and advice tailored to meet the needs of each of the groups it seeks to reach – 10- to 14-year-old boys and girls, 15- to 19-year-old adolescents, and 15- to 19-year-old newly married couples and new parents living in Northern Uganda. GREAT is a series of participatory activities, which include: 1) simple steps to bring communities together to take action to improve adolescent well-being; 2) a serial radio drama with stories and songs about young people and their families living in Northern Uganda; 3) orientation to help Village Health Teams (VHTs) offer youth-friendly services; and 4) a toolkit with lively stories and games. Each of the components encompasses specific methods and tools. The How-To Guide provides tools and instructions for how to implement GREAT and is written for nongovernmental organizations with some experience in community-based development programming. The guide is broken down into sections for each GREAT component; within each component chapter, you will find an overview of the component, suggested activity sessions, and tracking forms for tracking implementation progress. About GREAT The GREAT Project was a participatory, community-based, social and normative change intervention that engaged adolescents and communities in post-conflict Northern Uganda to promote gender-equitable attitudes and behaviours to reduce gender-based violence and improve sexual and reproductive health among adolescents.
Gender Roles, Equality & Transformations: GREAT Project How-To Guide
Why is it essential? In order to improve equitable attitudes and behaviors among adolescents, adult support is needed. GREAT contributes to an environment that supports adolescent development and has been proven to lead to significant improvements in attitudes and behaviors.
In order to improve equitable attitudes and behaviors among adolescents, adult support is needed. GREAT contributes to an environment that supports adolescent development and has been proven to lead to significant improvements in attitudes and behaviors.
The Gender Roles, Equality, and Transformations (GREAT) Project was an evidence-based intervention that succeeded in improving gender norms related to sexual and reproductive health and gender-based violence in Northern Uganda. GREAT was created based on a review of 61 effective sexual and reproductive health and gender-based violence programs for youth around the world, evaluating their scalability, combined with primary information collected from adolescents, their parents, and community leaders about the challenges and opportunities of growing up in Northern Uganda. GREAT aims to reach the majority of people in a community through different activities to bring about communitywide change. It was designed to require only modest investments of time and money to allow for expansion of activities across the region. GREAT provides information and advice tailored to meet the needs of each of the groups it seeks to reach – 10 to 14 year old boys and girls, 15 to 19 year old adolescents, and 15 to 19 year old newly married couples and new parents living in Northern Uganda. This technical brief outlines the project’s pilot activities and shares findings about what the project accomplished in terms of family planning attitudes, communication, and use; gender-equitable attitudes and behaviors; and attitudes toward intimate partner violence, conflict management, and sexual harassment. About GREAT The GREAT Project was a participatory, community-based, social and normative change intervention that engaged adolescents and communities in post-conflict Northern Uganda to promote gender-equitable attitudes and behaviours to reduce gender-based violence and improve sexual and reproductive health among adolescents.
Gender Roles, Equality, and Transformations (GREAT) Project Results
This technical brief outlines GREAT’s research-to-action process, which brought together representatives from diverse sectors to lay a strong foundation for healthy sexual relationships as adolescents mature through puberty into adulthood, a key life transition during which gender norms and identities begin to coalesce.
This interactive microsite shares programmatic information, key resources, and adaptable (downloadable) tools from the Gender Roles, Equality, and Transformations (GREAT) Project, an evidence-based intervention that succeeded in improving gender norms related to sexual and reproductive health and gender-based violence in Northern Uganda. GREAT is a series of participatory activities, which include: 1) simple steps to bring communities together to take action to improve adolescent well-being; 2) a serial radio drama with stories and songs about young people and their families living in Northern Uganda; 3) orientation to help Village Health Teams (VHTs) offer youth-friendly services; and 4) a toolkit with lively stories and games. Each of the components encompasses specific methods and tools. The microsite provides an immersive overview of the project’s activities. Visitors can listen to episodes of the serial radio drama, watch video testimonials from participants, and read quotations that show the impact of the project for Ugandans. The microsite also shares the lessons learned throughout the project--from pilot and scale-up to transition and sustainability. About GREAT The GREAT Project was a participatory, community-based, social and normative change intervention that engaged adolescents and communities in post-conflict Northern Uganda to promote gender-equitable attitudes and behaviours to reduce gender-based violence and improve sexual and reproductive health among adolescents.
Gender Roles, Equality, and Transformations (GREAT) Project Microsite
Why is it essential? The GREAT model places collaboration with local partners and the community at the center of the intervention. GREAT’s elements are tested, evidence-based, and scalable — tailored to life stages within the broad category of ‘young people.’ The site includes the Adobe InDesign files of GREAT’s toolkits and activity cards, which can be downloaded and adapted for use.
The GREAT model places collaboration with local partners and the community at the center of the intervention. GREAT’s elements are tested, evidence-based, and scalable — tailored to life stages within the broad category of ‘young people.’ The site includes the Adobe InDesign files of GREAT’s toolkits and activity cards, which can be downloaded and adapted for use.
Marginalized communities in Nepal have reduced access to reproductive health services due to geographic or social exclusion factors. Specific communities including the Dalit, Janajati, Chhetri, and Muslims have strong social and gender norms. These norms can limit family planning use and influence how couples make family planning decisions. These communities often have a high preference for sons over daughters. Across Nepal, early marriage is commonplace. Pragati is a package of nine interactive games developed and refined through robust proof of concept and pilot testing in Nepal. Through game-play and critical reflection questions, they sparked challenging conversations in communities around fertility and family planning, side-effects of family planning methods, and social norms that drive birth timing and family size. This interactive microsite has a comprehensive resources page that includes 1) a 72-page handbook that guides NGO staff, donors, and other stakeholders to implement or adapt Pragati into other community activities; 2) manuals for promotor or provider orientation, supervision and program support; 3) a package of interactive games with user-friendly instructions and cards in both English and Nepali, along with videos describing how to play the games; and 4) resources for community mobilization. Pragati increased fertility awareness, family planning use, and positively changed attitudes toward family planning, son preference, and couple communication. The site lays out, step-by-step, how programs can implement Pragati in their own communities. About the Institute for Reproductive Health, Georgetown University The Institute for Reproductive Health at Georgetown University strives to expand family planning choices and advance gender equality and has led several projects, including Tékponon Jikuagou and the Passages Project, focused on transforming social norms for reproductive health and family planning.
Why is it essential? Certain reproductive health topics are difficult to discuss openly. Community engagement activities suggested that games may provide a way to open conversations informally and challenge social and gender norms (unspoken rules that govern behavior).
Certain reproductive health topics are difficult to discuss openly. Community engagement activities suggested that games may provide a way to open conversations informally and challenge social and gender norms (unspoken rules that govern behavior).