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Ideas Addressing GENDER
The specific influence of gender dynamics or relationships on the practice of a behavior
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"Our Baby is my Responsibility, Too." Fathers in Papua New Guinea Embrace Skin-To-Skin Contact and Relish Their New ExperienceView Original Source
The Big Idea: Managers who oversee interventions that help to save the lives of babies who are premature and/or suffer low birth weight typically target mothers to prevent hypothermia – especially when there is no incubator available. Engaging fathers also to provide skin-to-skin contact with the newborns ensures their health and survival.
‘One Man Can’: Shifts in Fatherhood Beliefs and Parenting Practices Following a Gender-Transformative Programme in Eastern Cape, South AfricaView Original Source
The Big Idea: Expectations about gender roles and masculinity shape the extent and nature of men’s relationships with their children. The One Man Can (OMC) Fatherhood Project, started in South Africa and replicated across the continent, works to improve father’s relationships with their partners, children and families to reduce the spread and impact of HIV and AIDS, and reduce violence.
'Darkness Masked in Lightness': the Designer Using a Board Game to Challenge Arranged MarriagesView Original Source
The Big Idea: In societies where young women face societal pressures to wed at a young age, often via arranged marriages, it can be difficult to challenge this gender norm. To spark conversation about arranged marriages, a Pakistan-born designer named Nashra Balagamwala created a board game called Arranged! that forces players to confront the struggles that young South-Asian women face regarding arranged marriages and encourages young women to foster attitudes that they can choose their futures.
'No Sex without Fighting': Tackling Toxic Masculinity in DR CongoView Original Source
The Big Idea: The Democratic Republic of Congo has some of highest rates of sexual violence in the world. An approach of workshops with men, facilitated by men and women, is trying to tackle this by encouraging men to confront and question their toxic masculinity.
A 6-Week School Curriculum Improves Boys’ Attitudes and Behaviors Related to Gender-Based Violence in KenyaView Original Source
The Big Idea: Gender-based violence contributes to lower use of health services. While gender-based violence can be prevented through girls’ and women’s empowerment, advocacy and home visitations, and it also needs to be addressed simultaneously with boys and men as GBV often occurs in the context of male peers who demonstrate negative attitudes toward women.
A Review of Evidence for Bystander Intervention to Prevent Sexual and Domestic Violence in UniversitiesView Original Source
The Big Idea: Violence against women is a critical concern for public health. The growing evidence base for the bystander intervention approach to preventing sexual and domestic violence in university settings shows the potential to engage men, as well as women, positively in ending violence against women.
Can Village Savings and Loan Groups be a Potential Tool in the Malnutrition Fight? Mixed Method Findings from Mozambique View Original Source
The Big Idea: Many households lack money to purchase food to supplement home-grown stables, especially during recurring periods of extreme scarcity or sporadic crises. Village Savings and Loan Groups for women can help to smooth income during these times.
Changes in Couples’ Communication as a Result of Male-Involvement Family Planning InterventionView Original Source
The Big Idea: Men are often the decision-makers about contraceptive use but programs usually focus on women. Men often lack the knowledge or skills to make informed decisions as a couple. By engaging men through peers, couples can make joint decisions on spacing births.
Community Gender Norms Change as a Part of a Multilevel Approach to Sexual Health Among Married Women in Mumbai, IndiaView Original Source
The Big Idea: Changing gender roles and expectations to support greater relational equity for women has been shown to reduce HIV risk by improving the dynamics of marital relationships that contribute to risk. This can be challenging in male-dominated cultures. This community intervention at multiple levels, with a variety of strategies, shows that it is possible to significantly improve men’s equitable attitudes.
Community Health Workers: Bringing Family Planning Services to Where People Live and WorkView Original Source
The Big Idea: Community health worker (CHW) programs can increase use of contraception, particularly where unmet need is high, access is low, and geographic or social barriers to use of services exist.
Effect of Health Intervention Integration within Women's Self-Help Groups on Collectivization and Healthy Practices Around Reproductive, Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health in Rural IndiaView Original Source
The Big Idea: Existing self-help groups of women, even when formed for other sectors, offer sustainable platforms building on women’s social capital and peer networks, to empower them to become change agents for themselves and their peers on maternal, child and newborn health.
Evaluation of the Responsible, Engaged, and Loving (REAL) Fathers Initiative on Physical Child Punishment and Intimate Partner Violence in Northern UgandaView Original Source
The Big Idea: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a significant risk factor for numerous health practices, including newborn care and exclusive breastfeeding. Reducing children’s exposure to violence is an evidence-based approach to preventing partner violence for mothers and in the next generation.
From Struggling Milk Producer to Thriving Entrepreneur in Burkina FasoView Original Source
The Big Idea: Increased access to animal source foods are critical to improved nutrition. In some places, like rural Burkina Faso, milk is not always available. Small business are trying to fill this need. This post discusses the factors associated with limitations to starting and maintaining small businesses that provide locally produced milk especially for women entrepreneurs.Gender Norms and Economic Empowerment Intervention to Reduce Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in Rural Cote d'Ivoire: A Randomized Controlled Pilot StudyView Original Source
The Big Idea: In a society where household power dynamics favor men, directly engaging men and women together on issues of gender norms led to gains in empowerment and reduction of intimate partner violence. Adding a gender dialogue component where men and women discussed household dynamics proved successful in extending benefits of a village savings and lending scheme.
Gender-Transformative Bandebereho Couples' Intervention to Promote Male Engagement in Reproductive and Maternal Health and Violence Prevention in Rwanda: Findings from a Randomized Controlled TrialView Original Source
The Big Idea: Many programs promote male engagement and involved fatherhood. This evaluation explored the how a discussion and education group with young fathers and their partners in Rwanda that addresses how gender inequalities are transformed through “everyday interactions in the home” impacted relationship power dynamics and women’s decision-making in their households.
Hand Gestures Could Save Moms' LivesView Original Source
The Big Idea: In rural Mali, like many communities around the world, nearly one-third of women give birth at home, placing them at risk in the event of an emergency. Health facilities are often far away, with transport and treatment more expensive than many can afford. This initiative helps women and men with low literacy discuss and act on danger signs using hand and body gestures.
Hello Mama Via Papa: A Nigerian Father Gets the Message about Maternal and Newborn HealthView Original Source
The Big Idea: Managers who oversee programs that help strengthen maternal, newborn and child health outcomes often directly target the mother. A novel program in Nigeria targets fathers-to-be through mobile phones, providing them with simple, carefully timed text messages to share with their wives and to learn how to help care for her and the baby.
HIV Prevention Efforts and Incidence of HIV in UgandaView Original Source
The Big Idea: Data collected over 16 years of an open, population-based cohort of persons 15 to 49 years show the significant effect of a combination strategy for prevention of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) at the population level, after scale-up of antiretroviral therapy (ART) and medical male circumcision.
Husbands' Involvement in Antenatal Care and its Association with Women's Utilization of Skilled Birth Attendants in Sidama Zone, Ethiopia: A Prospective Cohort StudyView Original Source
The Big Idea: As efforts build to reduce maternal mortality, the role of husbands as supporters may be utilized to increase skilled attendance at delivery, by engaging them in antenatal care visits.
Increasing Contraceptive Use Among Young Married Couples in Bihar, India: Evidence from a Decade of Implementation of the PRACHAR ProjectView Original Source
The Big Idea: In contexts of early marriage, early and rapid repeat pregnancies among young married women, and inequitable social and gender norms, a comprehensive intervention is required. This review of program data over more than a decade of implementation sheds light on the key elements to sustained social and behavior change, including use of a socioecological intervention model; a gender-synchronized approach that engages both male and female partners; and intensity of interventions calibrated to different moments in the life cycle of young people.
Involving Male Partners in Maternity Care in Burkina Faso: A Randomized Controlled TrialView Original Source
The Big Idea: Male partners exert a considerable influence on women’s use of reproductive health services and participate in decisions that affect health outcomes. Initiatives to actively include fathers to participate in maternity services, even limited, can improve healthy practices after childbirth.
Just How Much Do Girls in Northern Nigeria Gain from Having Female Teachers? View Original Source
The Big Idea: Education, especially girl’s education, is both a development goal itself, and a positive influence on most health outcomes. This study explored the role of female teachers in helping girls improve learning outcomes.
One Surprising Idea to Help Solve a Water Crisis: Arid Jordan Faces Refugee and Water Challenges, but These Women are Here to HelpView Original Source
The Big Idea: For those who manage WASH programs in harsh desert environments where water resources are limited, one might assume that the environment and political conflicts over water are the key factors to address. But women (including female refugees) can play a critical role in reducing water consumption by identifying and repairing leaks in households in their own homes/residences and in their communities when trained as professional plumbers.
Quantitative Impact Evaluation of the SHOUHARDO II Project in View Original Source
The Big Idea: There is a wealth of evidence that gender inequalities and restrictive norms adversely affect health outcomes. Programmers need more data on effective approaches to address these norms. This food security program improved women’s empowerment outcomes through a multi-sectoral rights-based, livelihoods approach to carry out interconnected activities in the health, education, agriculture, and entrepreneurship sectors.
Realizing the Potential of a Homestead Food Production ProgramView Original Source
The Big Idea: Programs often promote home gardens and provide nutrition education expecting benefits to both mothers and young children although lacking evidence from rigorous evaluation. This study shows the pathways to improved nutrition outcomes for women and children through home gardens.
Rural Sanitation in India: The Poo PartyView Original Source
The Big Idea: Open Defecation Free (ODF) status requires use of a latrine, not only construction of latrines. Engaging women and youth in the movement against open defecation through creative and practical ways can renew stalled efforts in safe disposal of human feces.
Surviving in the Sahel, These Women Give New Meaning to the Term 'Tough Girls'View Original Source
The Big Idea: In adverse circumstances, gender inequalities leave women and girls worse off compared to men and boys. Yet many women are making changes. Despite poverty and other challenges, women in Niger are playing a major role in helping their communities overcome health and food security obstacles as leaders for their communities and households.
Te'kponon Jikuagou - Addressing Unmet Need for Family Planning through Social Networks in BeninView Original Source
The Big Idea: Too often programs work only with the usual suspects on birth spacing: couples, providers and leaders. This effective program found that engaging women’s existing social networks of relatives, friends and other influential individuals can tap into real influencers and accelerate the pace of diffusion for uptake of birth spacing practices.
Tipping Point Social Norms Innovative Series, Brief 3: Amra-o-Korchi (We are also doing) BangladeshView Original Source
The Big Idea: Portfolio managers who oversee programs that seek to help change gender norms to help create more equitable lives for girls and young women often need to consider the social norms that might serve as barriers to change. Social norm principles can shift social and gender norms including: identifying and engaging “first adopters,” such as men and boys in the community who are already practicing behaviors that support more equity for girls and women, creating space for dialogue and debate, and role modeling by girls and boys, and women and men.
Transfers, Behavior Change Communication, and Intimate Partner Violence: Post-Program Evidence from Rural BangladeshView Original Source
The Big Idea: Social transfer programs, cash and food, have been shown to reduce intimate partner violence (IPV). This study examined how communications activities related to cash or food transfers affected IPV after a program ended, suggesting sustained effects on women’s “threat points,” men’s social costs of violence, and household well-being.