Social norm(s) addressesd:
“Men do not need to concern themselves with SRH” “Men should be the sole decisionmakers in the household”
Organisation: MSI
MSI has been implementing the Husband Schools (Ecoles des Maris) in Mali and Niger. Through group sessions, men are taken through a curriculum covering SRH and general health topics, turning them into male champions.
Evidence brief coming soon!Social norm(s) addressesd:
“Men do not need to concern themselves with family planning methods” “Men should be the sole decision-makers in the household”
Organisation: FHI360, MSI, other partners
The Emanzi programme creates male champions in rural communities. Through group sessions and engagements, the intervention works to increase communication between men and their partners, improve couples’ relationships, and promote shared decision-making, while preparing Emanzi men to be role models for other men in their communities.
Further informationSocial norm(s) addressesd:
“To be seen as successful in the community men should have a large family”; “A woman’s worth is linked only to her ability to bear and bring up children”
Organisation: MSI
Gagarabadau uses three complementary strategies: Tea Vendor business training, mobiliser-led peer to peer conversations and the diffusion of the term ‘Gagarabadau’ (a Hausa term used to describe a respected man) to engage men and address social norms linking large families to men’s status and the role of women in family decision-making and income generation.
Evidence briefSocial norm(s) addressesd:
“Child care is a woman’s job”
Organisation: Institute for Reproductive Health, Save the Children
The REAL Fathers initiative is a mentoring programme aimed to improve family communication. Community elders mentor young fathers ages 16 to 25 who are parenting a child ages 1 to 5, helping them to build skills that improve the use of positive parenting and nonviolent discipline, increase positive couples communication, increase voluntary family planning use, and foster acceptance of gender-equitable roles within families. The full training curriculum and discussion guides are available online.
Further informationSocial norm(s) addressesd:
“Married couples should have many children quickly” “Married couples should listen to your elders when making decisions about birth spacing”
Organisation: USAID
Using an approach centred on community influencers, this project proved to be effective in addressing the social norms that discourage women and men who want to space or limit births from taking actions to seeking services. The approach is also called “social network diffusion”. One of the activities focused on linking FP provider with community influencers through the “Each One Invites 3” campaign, which asked network actors to reach out to family and peers not using family planning, talk about (diffuse) their experiences, and offer a Family Planning Invitation Card to encourage them to seek information and services. The project also used radio messages and influencer capacity building.
Further InformationSocial norm(s) addressesd:
“Men should make the final decisions on family planning”
Organisation: FACT Project in Nepal
PRAGATI is a series of nine interactive games that diffuse information about fertility and family planning in group settings to community members, catalysing conversations about reproductive health. Through the games, participants critically reflect on their own attitudes and the expectations of others that impact their reproductive health behaviours and decision making.
Further Information
Purpose:
To explore participants’ values around children and to open conversation about possible benefits of family planning
Materials:
Take Away Messages:
Introduction:
Today we are going fo begin discussing how couples can talk to each other about having children. and how they can choose when to get pregnant by using family planning.
How fo Play:
Social norm(s) addressesd:
“New wives are expected to give birth early in their marriage to prove their worth in their new family.” & “Good wives do not use family planning without their husband’s permission.”
Organisation: MSI – Sahel countries
La Famille Ideale is a suite of participatory tools for use by community mobilisers. The tools (a game and facilitated couples’ conversation) target adolescent women directly as well as their husbands and other key influencers (such as mothers-in-law). LFI is being used by all four of MSI’s programmes in the Sahel (Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Senegal) to create awareness and demand for the quality contraception services offered by MSI teams.
The tools:
Social norm(s) addressesd:
“Unmarried adolescents should not use contraception”
Organisation: MSI Zambia
This is a good example of leveraging reference groups for social norms change. Marie Stopes Zambia works with the health facility team to share local statistics on adolescent SRH like adolescent ANC attendance or deliveries (proxy measures to highlight the burden of teenage pregnancy) with community leaders during engagement meetings. In addition, community leaders are engaged in a ”path game” activity here to understand the adolescent SRH journey and the challenges they face These are exercises that build empathy and understanding for adolescents among leaders, allowing them to walk in the shoes of young women and understand how the rights of adolescents align with the priorities of their community.
Further Information (internal MSI only)Social norm(s) addressesd:
“You should not talk about menstruation”
Organisation: UNICEF, Others
GARIMA (Girls’ Adolescent and Reproductive Rights: Information for Management and Action) is a menstrual hygiene program that targeted adolescent girls and their immediate influencers in three districts in Uttar, India. It combined capacity building with strong SBCC interventions that have had a proven impact, speaking to all stakeholders involved in shaping these social norms. The main tools aimed at the girls themselves involved film groups, storybook sessions, and gifts: a personal diary, a poster and an apron showing the female reproductive system. The intervention’s main social norms goal was to break the silence around menstruation, and as such can be inspiring for similarly taboo topics in the space. It is a great example of analysing social norms to ensure all reference groups are included.
Further InformationSocial norm(s) addressesd:
“Girls should not talk about menstruation”
Organisation: Grandmother Project
This programme works to create an enabling environment around girls so they can flourish. This is achieved by directly supporting girls while at the same time encouraging community-wide consensus-building for adoption of social norms and attitudes that are more supportive of girls. A unique focus of the programme is the role of grandmothers as a reference group. The intervention creates space for dialogue in communities through a range of activities, of which you can find more detail in the link. In all of these activities, grandmothers are key actors. Along with other community members, they participate in dialogue and debate, and their involvement strengthens their capacity and commitment to lead positive change. Specific activities include grandmother leadership training; grandmother-teacher workshops; and “under-the-tree” participatory learning sessions” with grandmothers, mothers, and girls, which include a variety of activities using stories, songs, games, and discussion pictures to elicit dialogue and increase understanding between the generations.
Further Information