Key Social Norms Take-aways This evaluation highlights the effectiveness of community-driven, culturally embedded strategies to shift social norms that influence early marriage, adolescent pregnancy, and girls’ education. By restoring and elevating grandmothers’ traditional roles, the Girls’ Holistic Development program facilitated intergenerational dialogue, leading to greater social cohesion and community alignment around delaying marriage and supporting girls’ schooling. The program successfully aligned attitudes and expectations across adolescent girls, caregivers, and grandmothers, demonstrating that empowering respected community actors can catalyze collective action and normative change.
Objectives The study aimed to evaluate whether and how the Girls’ Holistic Development program in rural Senegal shifted social norms related to early marriage, pregnancy, and girls’ education, and to understand the pathways of change that led to these shifts.
Methods The evaluation used a realist, mixed-methods, quasi-experimental design. Data were collected through a cross-sectional survey with 399 adolescent girls, 196 grandmothers, and 205 caregivers across seven intervention and seven comparison villages. Additionally, 48 in-depth interviews and 20 focus group discussions were conducted to explore changes in relationships, communication, and social norms. Quantitative measures assessed descriptive and injunctive norms using culturally relevant vignettes.
Intervention Details Implemented by the Grandmother Project—Change through Culture, the Girls’ Holistic Development program used participatory, dialogue-based activities over 18 or more months. Forums involving adolescents, parents, elders, and community leaders promoted collective reflection on girls’ education, early marriage, and adolescent pregnancy. A key innovation was the revitalization of grandmothers’ advisory roles, enhancing their influence and positioning them as central agents of change within community systems rooted in West African collectivist values.
Results After 18 months, intervention villages showed significantly greater intergenerational communication, more supportive grandmother–girl relationships, and higher perceptions of grandmothers as influential decision-makers. Adolescent girls and caregivers in intervention areas reported stronger norms in favor of delaying marriage and keeping girls in school. Girls were more likely to seek advice from grandmothers, and grandmothers felt more valued and capable of influencing household decisions. Perceptions of community approval for girls’ education increased, while acceptance of early marriage declined.
Conclusions The Girls’ Holistic Development program’s approach—grounded in local culture and driven by respected community figures—demonstrates that social norms can be shifted through inclusive, dialogic processes. Empowering grandmothers and fostering collective action are key to changing harmful norms and improving outcomes for adolescent girls. The findings affirm the value of theory-driven, context-specific norm-shifting interventions.