About the resource hub
This resource hub brings together key tools and guidance for country programmes to strengthen their social norms programming. Informed by discussions with country teams, it aims to “demystify” social norms and offer practical tips on how to embed social norms messaging in your activities.
| You said | We did |
|---|---|
| It’s difficult to know if a barrier is a social norm or not | It can be easy to confuse social norms with myths or religious norms, and this distinction is an important one. Each of these “influence categories” require a different strategy to address them. As such, this toolkit also offers an “norm or not” tree – you can find it here |
| I don’t have budget for a big social norms project | Social norms work does not have to be a big flagship project. The programming guidance in this toolkit is also applicable to more day-to-day mobilisation work: how can we integrate social norms messaging whenever we have a chance to change minds? |
| Social norms in my context are complex and differ by community | The hub will help you gain a deeper understanding of the social norms that influence behaviour in the communities we work in, offering practical tools and tips for insight gathering. They will help you understand which norms are more influential than others, and how to tackle them. |
| Donors ask us to “shift” social norms, but I’m not sure what that means in practice | The hub features a library of the different key strategies to address social norms (remove; leverage; change, counter & complement), with real examples from different contexts to inspire your own work. |
| I know social norms are important, but I’m not sure how to measure their impact beyond service numbers | Addressing social norms are a key element of working to create a more Enabling Environment for MSI’s mission. Its impact goes well beyond CYPs, and you may need to prioritise long-term goals over short-term wins. This is how you create truly sustainable demand! You can find more information on how to do this in the section on measuring social norms work. |
References and further reading
The content in this Hub has been developed by leveraging the wide variety of resources shared by partners across the sector, as well as MSI country programmes’ insights and experiences, particularly under the FCDO-funded Women’s Integrated Sexual Health (WISH) programme. The list below provides details of some of the main resources used to develop and inform the Hub content. We extend our thanks to our sector colleagues for making available the experiences and expertise shared in these resources. We have flagged where we have drawn heavily from or adapted existing tools in specific sections of the Hub, but all of the resources below have in some way informed the development of the Hub.
We highly recommend the resources on this list for those interested in further reading!
Breakthrough Action – Communication Initiative Network, Springboard SBC Compass. Guides: Getting practical: integrating social norms in SBC, A taxonomy for social norms that influence family planning in the Ouagadougou Partnership countries,
Care International – Social Norms Analysis Plot (SNAP), Social Norms Design Checklist, Social Analysis Manual, Social Analysis and Action Global Implementation Manual, Social Norms Data Use Tool
Institute for Reproductive Health (Georgetown University) – Identifying and Describing Approaches and Attributes of Norms-Shifting Interventions – Background Paper, Toward Shared Meaning: A Challenge Paper on Social and Behavior Change and Social Norms
Interagency Gender Working Group – DOs and DON’Ts for engaging men and boys
ITAD – Women’s Integrated Sexual Health (WISH) Social Norms Learning Worksheets
Johns Hopkins University Family Planning High Impact Practices – Social Norms: Promoting community support for family planning, Galvanizing Commitment: Creating a supportive environment for family planning programs, Mass Media: Reaching audiences far and wide with messages to support healthy reproductive behaviors, Community Group Engagement: Changing Norms to Improve Sexual and Reproductive Health
Oxfam – Social Norms Diagnostic Tool
Passages Project/Social Norms Learning Collaborative – ALIGN platform. Social Norms Exploration Tool, 20 Essential Resources for Social Norms Family Planning, Social Norms Lexicon, Social Norms Atlas, Monitoring shifts in social norms: a guide for program implementers
We also recommend taking a look at the videos produced under the WISH programme on defining social norms, programming strategies and monitoring change.
Please do not hesitate to reach out to Olivia Vandeputte (Olivia.vandeputte@msichoices.org) if you want to share your own new resources on social norms with us!
Acknowledgements
This resource hub was developed thanks to UK Aid funding from the UK government.
MSI Reproductive Choices would also like to thank the funders supporting our social norms work and programming, including the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, KfW Development Bank, and others.