This case study profiles Centre for Catalyzing Change (C3), an Indian non-government organisation that embeds gender-transformative programming within government education and health systems to shift adolescent gender norms at scale.
Centre for Catalyzing Change has worked with adolescents in India since 1987, when it began as the Better Life Options Program under the Centre for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA). It became an independent Indian organisation in 2010 and rebranded as C3 in 2014. Today, C3 designs programmes are embedded within government education, health and community systems rather than delivered as standalone services.
Its two central programmes for shifting gender norms are Udaan and Tarang. Udaan began in Jharkhand in 2006 and has since expanded to over 5,200 schools, using a 13-module curriculum covering life skills, gender discrimination and reproductive health. Tarang extended this work to Bihar, engaging both boys and girls in discussions of masculinity and gender equality. Both are now mainstreamed into India's national School Health and Wellness Programme. C3 also runs targeted initiatives such as Manjari and Badhtey Kadam for girls, and Balance for the Better, which works specifically with boys to build gender-egalitarian attitudes.
C3's theory of change draws on the Social Ecological Model, addressing gender norms at intrapersonal, community and policy levels simultaneously. This systems-oriented approach has led to formal recognition, including the Supreme Court of India citing Udaan as a successful model for adolescent education in 2024. An evaluation of C3's Do Kadam Barabari Ki Ore programme with boys in Bihar found participants developed significantly more egalitarian attitudes and rejected violence against women by the programme's end.
Key messages
- C3 embeds its gender-transformative programming directly within government education, health and community systems, rather than delivering it as a standalone service.
- Its signature programmes, Udaan and Tarang, engaged with both boys and girls and have been mainstreamed into India's national School Health and Wellness Programme.
- C3's theory of change is based on the Social Ecological Model, addressing gender norms across intrapersonal, community and policy levels at the same time.
- An evaluation of the Do Kadam Barabari Ki Ore, an intervention with boys, found that boys who took part developed significantly more egalitarian attitudes and rejected violence against women by the end.
- The Udaan programme was cited by the Supreme Court of India in 2024 as a successful model for adolescent education.
- C3 believes the burden of change should not fall on girls and deliberately integrates boys into discussions on gender equity and gender-based violence.
- Since 1987, C3 has built a systems-oriented model that connects evidence, advocacy and government partnership to achieve durable, at-scale shifts in gender norms.
