ALIGN community members and initiatives

Breakthrough is a global human rights organisation driving culture change to make gender-based violence (GBV) unacceptable. Through a mix of transformative on-the-ground engagement, leadership building, pioneering multimedia initiatives, relevant cultural tools, and outside-the-box partnerships, Breakthrough reaches people where they are. It equips them to change the norms that enable violence and to stand up for a just and equal world.

Breakthrough pioneered the tactic of ‘using culture to change culture’ by mobilising cultural tools to mainstream crucial issues and normalize human rights-driven values. The aim is to inspire people to act, with a particular focus on the culturally ingrained practices of early marriage, gender-biased sex selection, sexual harassment and assault, and domestic violence.

CARE is engaged in a stream of work led by CARE USA on social norms, with programming in Asia and Africa. For example, CARE is involved in work in Ethiopia through its Abdiburo project to understand and address harmful and discriminatory gender norms. The project is in an early stage and findings will become available as the project develops.

Other relevant programmes include the Tipping Point in Nepal and Bangladesh on child marriage and Indashikirywa in Rwanda on intimate partner violence.

CUSP is a community of organisations covering three regions, working to scale up social norm change methodologies. Each of its nine organisations has expertise in social norm change programmes:
1. The Center for Domestic Violence Prevention (CEDOVIP)
2. Intervention with Microfinance for AID and Gender Equity (IMAGE)
3. the Institute for Reproductive Health and Georgetown University
4. Oxfam
5. Puntos de Encuentro
6. Raising Voices
7. Salamander Trust
8. Sonke Gender Justice and
9. Tostan.

Drawing on their combined 180 years of experience, these organisations use evidence-based methodologies to provide expertise and perspective on changing social norms and scaling programmes.

Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence (GAGE) is a nine-year, mixed methods longitudinal research programme investigating 'what works' to improve adolescent girls' well-being in the Global South. GAGE is funded by UK aid from the UK Government.

Girl Effect is a social change organisation that works with girls and those around them to empower girls to reach their full potential and disrupt the cycle of poverty. Using culture brands, mobile technology and innovative research, Girl Effect works to challenge harmful stereotypes about gender by working directly with girls in their communities to empower them and promote gender equitable norms.

Girls Not Brides is a global partnership of more than 800 civil society organisations from over 95 countries throughout Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas committed to ending child marriage and enabling girls to fulfil their potential. Central to much of this work has been understanding and challenging the harmful gendered norms that promote child marriage.

The Gender Roles, Equality and Transformation (GREAT) Project developed by the Institute of Reproductive Health at Georgetown University, Save the Children and Pathfinder International, promotes gender-equitable attitudes and behaviours among adolescents and their communities.

The project has developed a set of participatory activities to engage adolescents and adults in northern Uganda.

ICRW is the world's premier research institute focused on tackling challenges facing women and girls worldwide. They focus on issues related to gender norm change including child marriage, economic empowerment, men and masculinities, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and violence against women.

The Lancet is supporting a data-driven series on gender norms and health to advance conceptualizations of gender in the health sector. The forthcoming series will have an explicit focus on gender norms and will discuss the intersectionality of issues of gender and power that have an impact on health and well-being.

Made up of a network of experts committed to facilitating collaboration between organisations and individuals working on adolescent sexual and reproductive health norm change, the Learning Collaborative works to enhance collective efforts, build knowledge, and develop shared tools to promote and guide effective social norm theory, measurement and practice at scale.

The Learning Initiative on Norms, Exploitation and Abuse (LINEA) explores how social norm theory can be used to reduce child sexual exploitation and abuse. Affiliated with the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine’s Gender Violence and Health Centre, LINEA combines research with partnership-building to guide programmes to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse.

MUVA tests a range of different approaches to the economic empowerment of young women in urban areas of Mozambique. Recognising persistent social norms and other barriers that limit their access to decent work, MUVA develops innovative projects with local partners to build the skills they need to work, the self-confidence and vision they need to pursue economic activities, and to create new job opportunities that match their aspiration and abilities. The project is funded by DFID and runs from 2016 – 2022.

The five-year Passages project developed by the Institute of Reproductive Health at Georgetown University, FHI 360, Johns Hopkins Global Early Adolescent Study (GEAS), PSI, Save the Children and Tearfund, aims to address a broad range of social norms, at scale, to achieve sustained improvements in family planning and reproductive health.

This research project investigates a range of gender norms relevant to sexual and reproductive health, building the evidence base. It is also contributing to the capacity of the global community to strengthen normative environments that support reproductive health, especially among very young adolescents, newly married youth, and first-time parents. Passages is being implemented at present in Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, Nepal, Niger and Senegal.

The Population Council conducts research to address critical health and development issues. Their work allows couples to plan their families and chart their futures. They help people avoid HIV infection and access life-saving HIV services. And they empower girls to protect themselves and have a say in their own lives.

Promundo is a global initiative to promote caring, non-violent and equitable masculinities and gender relations in Brazil and internationally. Promundo's work engages women, girls, boys and men; strives to transform gender norms and power relations within key institutions; and is based on building local and international partnerships.

SASA! is a community mobilisation programme developed by Raising Voices in Kampala, Uganda. The programme aims to unpack power, both its positive and negative uses, and work with communities to address violence against women and HIV. The programme addresses norms and focuses on relationships, encouraging staff and community to reflect on their own lives and relationships, before trying to influence others.

Sonke Gender Justice is a research and advocacy initiative based in Johannesburg that works across Africa. It aims to strengthen government, civil society and citizen capacity to promote gender equality, prevent domestic and sexual violence, show the effects of gender norms and inequalities on men and women, and reduce the spread and impact of HIV and AIDS. Sonke has partnered with initiatives such as MenEngage to promote equitable gender norms.

STRIVE is a research consortium investigating the social norms and inequalities that drive HIV. STRIVE aims to address the evidence gaps on how gendered social norms, power differences and other structural forces increase vulnerability to HIV and on the interventions that work, in practice, to address such vulnerability.