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  • Gender

Gender

NOTE: This is an update of a previous Trending Topic. 

This update includes recently produced tools and examples. Newly added items are at the top of each list.

Gender roles and relations impact a broad array of health and development issues—from economic empowerment to governance to violence against women and HIV and AIDS. Social norms and expectations of how men and women should behave are a key determinant of health and development outcomes, as are structural issues such as inequitable laws and policies. Over the last decade, the field of gender equality programming has grown in its scope and sophistication, tackling our understanding of femininity and masculinity, as well as addressing gender as a continuum by looking at transgender and intersex issues. 

Social and behavior change (SBC) interventions can work to reinforce positive gender norms or support communities in establishing new ones. Interventions, such as advocacy to address inequitable legislation, can also address social and structural barriers. More generally, intentionally including attention to gender issues can help SBC programs attain their health and development outcomes, particularly when space is given to help communities critically reflect on gender and find culturally appropriate ways to shift existing beliefs, attitudes, and social norms. 


Peer-Reviewed Literature

Bates-Jeffreys, Ellen et al. 2019. The Road to Testing Innovations in Behavior Change and Gender Norms: How Can We Leverage Mobile Phone Technology to Reach and Engage Men to Reduce Violence Against Women? Innovations for Poverty Action. Retrieved June 24, 2019.

Bingenheimer, Jeffrey, et al. 2019. Advancing Social Norms Practice for Adolescent and Youth Sexual and Reproductive Health: The Why and the How. Science Direct, 64:4 April 2019. Retrieved June 24, 2019.

Gender Equality, Norms, and Health. 2019. The Lancet. Retrieved July 3, 2019.

Van Der Gaag, Nikki, et al. 2019. State of the World’s Fathers: Unlocking the Power of Men’s Care. Promundo. Retrieved June 24, 2019.

Diaz, Maria, et al.  2016. Integrating and Mainstreaming Gender into Social and Behavior Change Programs: What Does it Take?  Chemonics. Retrieved June 24, 2019.

Diiro, Gracious M., et al. 2016. The Role of Gender on Malaria Preventive Behaviour among Rural Households in Kenya. Malaria Journal 2016 15:14. Retrieved June 26, 2019.

Pulerwitz, Julie, et al. 2010. Addressing Gender Dynamics and Engaging Men in HIV Programs: Lessons Learned from Horizons Research. Public Health Reports. Retrieved June 24, 2019.


 
Photo: March held in Iringa, Tanzania in solidarity for gender equality and reproductive rights  © 2017 Rebekah Munnikhuysen/US Peace Corps, Courtesy of Photoshare
 
 

Resources

  • Tools
  • Examples

Advancing Male Engagement in Family Planning and Reproductive Health: An Advocacy Tool

This tool provides an advocacy implementation plan template that helps users identify priority FP/RH decision-makers, assess their current level of familiarity with or support for male engagement, and tailor a unique advocacy goal and approach based on that decision maker’s specific priorities and spheres of influence.

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Gender and Social and Behavior Change Communication Implementation Kit

The Gender and Social and Behavior Change Communication Implementation Kit (I-Kit) provides a step-by-step approach to integrate gender into an existing SBCC strategy or marketing plan.

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SBCC and Reproductive Empowerment Evidence Database

Reproductive empowerment (RE) includes people’s ability to participate in public and private discussions and act collectively on reproductive health matters.  This database contains examples or literature about sexual and reproductive health (SRH) interventions that address concepts in the RE conceptual model which is found here.

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Effectively Integrating Gender in SBCC: Examples from Across the Program Cycle

This webinar seeks to highlight distinct methods of gender integration throughout the program cycle for comprehensive SBCC using examples and experiences from three diverse organizations – CARE, ACDI/VOCA, and SPRING/Senegal.

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Gender Transformation for Health A Participatory Toolkit

The sessions in this toolkit are geared toward health workers in Jhpiego-supported programs and health facilities. As the session inventory indicates, some activities are also geared toward health programmers and those managing public health programs in low- and middle-income countries. 

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Tackling the Taboo: Sexuality and Gender-Transformative Programmes to End Chlld, Early, and Forced Marriage and Unions

This report focuses on the need to address patriarchal control of adolescent girls’ sexuality in the fight against child, early and forced marriage and unions, and highlights the vital role played by gender-transformative programs. The report presents findings from a review of 23 organizations that work at the intersection of child marriage and sexuality, and includes three case studies that feature the work of grassroots organizations working in politically and culturally conservative contexts.

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Advancing Gender in The Environment: Gender in Fisheries—A Sea of Opportunities

Produced by USAID’s Office of Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GenDev), USAID’s Office of Forestry and Biodiversity (FAB), and the 

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Align - Advancing Learning and Innovation on Gender Norms

ALIGN is a digital platform and program of work that works to create a global community of researchers and thought leaders, all committed to gender justice and equality. It provides new research, insights from practice, and grants for initiatives that increase our understanding of – and what works to change – discriminatory gender norms.

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Gender and Malaria Fact Sheet

This fact sheet offers basic information about the ways in which gender can affect malaria prevention and treatment. It notes cases in the Gambia and Kenya, describing how gender issues were studied and addressed to deal with the gender differences.

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Water, Sanitation and Hygiene: 10 Reasons WASH is a Pathway to Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women and Girls

On June, 9, 2017, the Government of Canada released its Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP) to advance gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.

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Gender Analysis Toolkit for Health Systems

This toolkit is a practical guide for public health professionals seeking to understand how gender can impact health outcomes, both through service delivery and access to information and care. Its primary focus is sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health.

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ALIGN Guide Toolkits: Programmes on Gender Norms and Masculinities

The Align Guide brings together evidence to unpack the concepts around gender norms and masculinities across a number of key themes. 

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Gender-Responsive Water, Sanitation and Hygiene: Key Elements for Effective WASH Programming

This document outlines essential elements that WASH practitioners should take into account at all points in the programme cycle in order to enhance a gender-responsive approach to their work. 

Transforming Inequalities, Transforming Lives

This document provides Save the Children's statement and vision on gender equality. 

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REALIZE: Social and Behavioral Change for Gender Equity and Diversity

The Technical and Operational Performance Support (TOPS) Program and CARE USA created this set of field-friendly activities.

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Gender Integration Continuum Training Session User's Guide

The Gender Integration Continuum Training Session User’s Guide is a tool to help new and experienced gender trainers plan, prepare for, and facilitate the Gender Integration Continuum training session.

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Communicating Gender for Rural Development

This document is designed to promote the introduction of a gender perspective into communication for development initiatives in rural areas, and suggests practical ways of going about this. It consists of two parts.

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Family Planning, HIV/AIDS & STIs, and Gender Matrix: A Tool for Youth Reproductive Health Programming

Planning for Life aims to improve the health of young men and women ages 10-24 by addressing their reproductive health
needs and by promoting the integration of reproductive health (RH) and family planning (FP) as critical components of youth

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IGWG Gender and Health Toolkit

This is a compilation of practical resources for gender integration and mainstreaming in health policies, programs and institutions. It is designed as a companion to the IGWG website, a site for gender and reproductive health information, publications and networking.

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Gender-Sensitive Indicators for Media: Framework of Indicators to Gauge Sensitivity in Media Operations and Content

This framework seeks to address the intersection of women's empowerment and media development. Its main focus is on the equality and gender dimensions of social diversity in the media.

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It's All One Curriculum: Guidelines and Activities for a Unified Approach to Sexuality, Gender, HIV, and Human Rights Education

Research shows that young people need chances to learn about gender equality and human rights, particularly because these issues affect their sexual lives, and indeed, their happiness. Most sex education programs have lagged in applying these findings.

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Service Guideline on Gender Sensitivity and Safety Promoting a Holistic Approach to Wellbeing

This guideline sets out what is required of services and individual practitioners to provide gender-sensitive care for women, men and people who identify as transgender or intersex.

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Guide for Promoting Sexual and Reproductive Health Products and Services for Men

The Guide for Promoting Sexual and Reproductive Health Products and Services for Men focuses on meaningfully engaging men and creating an enabling environment to increase men’s use of SRH products and services. Drawing on lessons learned from the promotion of male condoms, vasectomy, voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC), HIV testing services (HTS) and sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing and treatment, the guide provides guidance, resources and examples of approaches that have increased men’s use of SRH products and services in a variety of settings.
Download

Voices for Change

Nigeria

Voices for Change, V4C (Nigeria, 2013-2017) was a program which worked to strengthen the enabling environment for gender equality in Nigeria. The program targeted young women and men aged 16–25 years old and operated in four states in Nigeria: Enugu, Kaduna, Kano and Lagos. For some activities it operated at the federal level. 

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Manhood 2.0: Program Overview and Final Results

North America
South America
Manhood 2.0 is a gender-transformative curriculum adapted from Promundo’s flagship program, Program H (for “hombres” or “homens” in Spanish and Portuguese, respectively), by Promundo and the University of Pittsburgh. 

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Transforming Masculinities

Cote d'Ivoire

Transforming Masculinities is an evidence-based approach used in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR) to promote gender equality and positive masculinities within faith communities. 

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Doing Qualitative Field Research on Gender Norms with Adolescent Girls and their Families

Nepal
Viet Nam
Uganda

Qualitative research is particularly valuable for understanding gender norms that affect adolescent girls, because it allows people’s own perspectives and voices to come through, and gives the researcher a deeper, more nuanced understanding of the complexities involved in studying gender norms.

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Gender and Malaria in Kenya

Kenya

Gender is a cross-cutting issue that can inform decision making and best practices in all health areas. HIV care and treatment, for example, has benefitted from increased attention to gender inequities over the past decade. 

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An Action Guide for Gender Equality in National HIV Plans: Catalyzing Change through Evidence-Based Advocacy

Cambodia
Uganda

From 2009 to 2011, ICRW collaborated with government, civil society, and donor organizations in Uganda and Cambodia to do the following:
• Identify strengths and gaps in how these two countries’ national strategies, policies and action plans address gender inequality as a social driver of HIV;

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16 Points of Action to Stop Violence Against Women and Children

South Africa

This resource is from the Brothers for Life campaign, which was launched in 2009 and seeks to address the risks associated with multiple and concurrent partnerships, sex and alcohol abuse, and gender based violence; and which also promotes HIV testing, male involvement in PMTCT, and other health seeking behaviors.

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African Transformation Facilitator's Guide

African Transformation™ helps women and men explore gender norms and social roles, and provides them with tools to begin changing the negative and reinforcing the positive.

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Brothers for Life Campaign Materials

South Africa

This is the main website listing the resources from the Brothers for Life campaign which was launched 2009 to address the risks associated with multiple and concurrent partnerships, sex and alcohol abuse, and gender based violence and which also promoted HIV testing, male involvement in PMTCT and other health seeking behaviors.

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Go Girls! Community Success Stories

Botswana
Mozambique

Go Girls! was guided by a comprehensive, five stage research portfolio including a literature review, formative research, baseline survey, process evaluation, and endline survey.

These reports tell the story of Go Girls! activities in Botswana and Mozambique

Surveys carried out throughout the project found:

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GREAT Scalable Toolkit

Uganda

The Gender Roles, Equality and Transformations (GREAT) Project works to improve gender equity and reproductive health in Northern Uganda.

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Program H | M | D: A Toolkit for Action Engaging Youth to Achieve Gender Equity

Brazil
Mexico

Program H (for men) and Program M (for women) were born out of a belief that changing rigid, inequitable, homophobic and violent versions of what it means to be a man are key to achieving health, achieving women’s and girls’ empowerment and central to social justice efforts. Program D (for diversity) was then added.

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Jane Brown

This website is made possible by the support of the American People through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the Breakthrough-ACTION Project, supported by USAID’s Office of Population and Reproductive Health, Bureau for Global Health, under Cooperative Agreement #AID-OAA-A-17-00017 with the Johns Hopkins University.

Breakthrough-ACTION is based at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center for Communication Programs (JHU∙CCP). The contents of this website are the sole responsibility of JHU∙CCP. The information provided on this website is not official U.S. Government information and does not necessarily represent the views or positions of USAID, the United States Government, or The Johns Hopkins University.

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