Growing Up GREAT! End of Project Report
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The Growing Up Great! program highlights the importance of targeting deeply rooted social norms that restrict adolescent girls’ bodily autonomy and decision-making power. The evaluation found that while individual knowledge and attitudes improved, sustained gender and power hierarchies in families and communities limited girls’ ability to act on this information. The […]
Growing Up GREAT! Wave 4 Report
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study shows that shifting knowledge and attitudes among adolescents is not enough to produce lasting change unless efforts also confront the persistent gender norms and power structures embedded in family and community life. Although the Growing Up Great programme increased awareness and fostered more equitable views, especially among girls, entrenched […]
Fostering gender equality and reproductive and sexual health among adolescents: results from a quasi-experimental study in Northern Uganda
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The study demonstrates that a resource-light, narrative-based intervention can shift gender norms and behaviors when implemented through a life-stage approach. The most significant changes occurred among older adolescents and newly married/parenting youth, suggesting that adolescence and early adulthood are critical windows for gender norm transformation. The intervention succeeded in transforming inequitable […]
Contraceptive Conversations among Adolescent Girls and Young Women and their Partners, Peers, and Older Female Family Members in Lilongwe, Malawi: A Qualitative Analysis
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Social norms around adolescent sexuality, fertility, and contraceptive use significantly shape contraceptive conversations and decision-making among adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in Malawi. Unmarried and nulliparous AGYW face the greatest communication barriers due to stigma and cultural expectations that link contraceptive use to promiscuity and nonbarrier methods to infertility. These […]
Communication, Social Norms, and Contraceptive Use among Adolescent Girls and Young Women in Lilongwe, Malawi
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The study highlights that AGYW are strongly influenced by their social ties — particularly partners and peers — when deciding whether to use non-barrier contraception. Interventions seeking to increase contraceptive use should go beyond delivering information or focusing on approval and instead strengthen peer-to-peer and partner communication and address perceptions of […]
Effects of a community-based, multi-level family planning intervention on theoretically grounded intermediate outcomes for couples in rural Uganda: Results from a mixed methods pilot evaluation
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study demonstrates the power of community-based, gender-transformative dialogue to shift entrenched social norms that hinder contraceptive use among couples in rural Uganda. Using the theory of transformative communication, the intervention successfully challenged norms around gender inequity and large family size by reshaping perceptions of a “successful family” and fostering more […]
Community Dialogue to Shift Social Norms and Enable Family Planning: An Evaluation of the Family Planning Results Initiative in Kenya
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The intervention successfully challenged norms that limited women’s reproductive autonomy and discouraged FP use. Dialogues helped normalize FP discussions, reduced stigma, and encouraged joint decision-making. Involving respected local figures and modeling positive behaviors created social permission for men to engage more equitably in reproductive health. The findings show how social norms […]
How does a Social and Behavioral Change Communication Intervention Predict Menstrual Health and Hygiene Management: A Cross-Sectional Study
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The GARIMA intervention reveals that breaking the culture of silence around menstruation can lead to improved menstrual health and hygiene management when social and behavioral change communication is grounded in interpersonal and community dialogue. The intervention successfully shifted gender norms and increased interpersonal communication, which were key mediators of improved menstrual […]
Measuring the effectiveness of communication programming on menstrual health and hygiene management (MHM) social norms among adolescent girls in India
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study demonstrates that social and behavior change interventions can effectively shift social norms surrounding menstruation when these norms are conceptualized as multidimensional constructs—encompassing personal beliefs, perceived peer approval (injunctive norms), and perceptions of others’ behaviors (descriptive norms). The GARIMA initiative revealed that increased exposure to positive messaging significantly aligned personal […]
How radio can build a more supportive environment for girls’ education, learning, and empowerment
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The EAGER program demonstrates that targeting social norms through media—especially radio—is an effective strategy for shifting attitudes that restrict girls’ education, reproductive autonomy, and empowerment. By broadcasting relatable, locally grounded stories and fostering open discussion among caregivers, community leaders, and girls, the program encouraged more equitable norms around adolescent girls’ rights, […]