Breakthrough Generation Initiative Mixed-Methods Final Evaluation Report July
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The Breakthrough Generation Initiative demonstrated that systemic shifts in social norms—especially around gender roles, harmful practices, and community collaboration—can emerge from community-led, values-based education. The participatory approach of Tostan’s Community Empowerment Program (CEP) created safe spaces for challenging entrenched beliefs and introduced a process of organized diffusion, enabling widespread norm change […]
Can Media Campaigns Change Attitudes and Spark Actions to Reduce Early Child Marriage? Impact Evaluation of Breakthrough’s Early Marriage Campaign in Jharkhand and Bihar States of India. Grantee Final Report
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The study reveals that norms supporting early marriage and rigid gender roles can shift through media-driven and community-based engagement. Breakthrough’s mass media campaigns challenged the normalization of child marriage, while training and community mobilization helped reinforce critical reflection on gender norms. The intervention encouraged more equitable attitudes among adolescents and adults, […]
Using social and behavior change communication to increase HIV testing and condom use: The Malawi BRIDGE Project
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The BRIDGE II program addressed harmful norms related to gender, sexual behavior, and HIV stigma through mass media and community engagement. By challenging prevailing beliefs and encouraging community discussion, the intervention helped shift social expectations around HIV testing and condom use. These shifts supported individuals in adopting healthier behaviors within a […]
Gender-transformative Bandebereho couples’ intervention to promote male engagement in reproductive and maternal health and violence prevention in Rwanda: Findings from a randomized controlled trial
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The Bandebereho intervention demonstrates that deeply entrenched gender norms—such as men’s dominance in decision-making, use of violence against women and children, and unequal household labor—can shift through a structured, gender-transformative approach. By promoting critical reflection, joint decision-making, and shared caregiving roles, the intervention disrupted patriarchal norms in a sustainable way. Male […]
Evaluation of Biruh Tesfa (Bright Future) for All: A program for out-of-school girls, migrants, and domestic workers in low-income Ethiopian cities
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The study highlights the importance of shifting social norms around education, gender roles, and child protection to improve outcomes for highly vulnerable urban girls in Ethiopia. Biruh Tesfa effectively engaged communities to increase girls’ school attendance and reduce harmful practices, especially around early marriage and household labor expectations. It shows that […]
Qualitative research on Breakthrough ACTION’s Advocacy Core Group Model for integrated social behavior change programming in Nigeria
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Adolescent childbearing in northern Nigeria is shaped by social norms around early marriage, gender roles, and family honor. These norms position marriage and motherhood as expected milestones for girls, often reinforced by community and family members. Premarital pregnancy is highly stigmatized, especially for girls, while boys face fewer consequences. Changing these […]
Improving Menstrual Health Literacy Through Life-Skills Programming in Rural Ethiopia
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study demonstrates the effectiveness of gender-transformative life-skills programming in the Act With Her–Ethiopia program in shifting stigmatizing social norms around menstruation among very young adolescents in rural Ethiopia. Programming that synchronously engages girls, boys, caregivers, and communities can significantly reduce menstrual stigma and improve knowledge and behavior around menstrual health. […]
ADOLESCENT TRANSITION IN WEST AFRICA (ATWA) OUTCOME EVALUATION 2022-2023 Endline Report
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The ATWA program demonstrates that comprehensive, school- and community-based life skills education can lead to early shifts in social norms around gender and adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights. Although short-term changes in community-level norms were modest, significant improvements in adolescents’ knowledge, attitudes, and gender-equitable beliefs suggest that norms around […]
Engaging Men in Family Planning: Perspectives From Married Men in Loma, Togo
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The study highlights that entrenched gender norms shape male engagement in family planning, particularly the belief that men should have the final say in reproductive decisions. These norms create barriers for women’s agency and complicate their autonomous use of contraception. However, men’s openness to learning and their respect for trusted community […]
‘Somali Women towards Economic Empowerment and Transformation’ (SWEET) Phase 3 Endline Evaluation Report
Key Social Norms Take-aways: While this study did not directly measure social norms, it provides evidence that media programming can shift gendered attitudes and challenge normative beliefs about women’s roles in the economy. Male listeners reported increased confidence in women’s business abilities and described changing views within peer groups about women’s rightful place being beyond […]