Behavioral and Social Change

The innovation will aim at tackling gender inequality: the fundamental root cause of all forms of GBV. Women refugees are vulnerable, and it is estimated that 86% of the refugees in host communities live below the poverty line. Syrian women refugee also face major challenges in accessing basic resources and one-fifth of girls never even go outside their homes in Syria and displacement has made it even less likely. Lack of information is the major barrier to prevention of violence in this crisis.

Gender-based violence is unreported or under-reported in many rural parts of the Philippines, coinciding with regions where last mile access to support services for victims is also limited. A major contributor to this problem is the fact that victims have no way and no choice to report incidents or seek help. As a result, authorities and policy makers lack the data to intervene in gender-based violence or improve the services and programs to support victims.

Eric Kaduru of KadAfrica Estate Limited and John Onekalit of the Kitgum Concerned Women's Association both in Uganda will provide a 12-month, integrated life skills and agricultural training program along with land and seedlings to young refugee women out of school in Uganda to begin their own sustainable passion fruit farming cooperatives. Uganda has accepted many refugees, but also has the world's youngest population and very high unemployment.

Léger Foyet of Population Services International in the U.S. along with the Organization to Advance Solutions in the Sahel (OASIS) and the High Commission of the Nigeriens Nourish Nigeriens agriculture initiative (HC3N) will improve gender equity, nutrition, and access to family planning in Niger. Niger has one of the highest levels of poverty and malnutrition. Women in Niger are usually married before the age of 16 and have on average around eight children. Men generally make the decisions on family planning, and there is limited access to contraceptives and healthcare.

Denise Dunning of the Public Health Institute's Rise Up program's "Let Girls Lead" initiative in the US in collaboration with the Girls' Empowerment Network (GENET) of Malawi, and the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) will develop and test a multi-armed approach to empower girls with information, leadership skills, and support networks to reduce the incidence of child marriage and associated harmful traditions in Southern Malawi. Malawi has one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world, with half of all girls married by the age of 18.

Poonam Muttreja of the Population Foundation of India will conduct a pilot project using entertainment via digital media as a form of education (edutainment) to change cultural and social norms underlying gender-based violence in India. They will recruit national celebrities to relay messages that motivate young girls to stand up against violence, and show boys that masculinity is not connected with violence. They will also produce six short films and an anthem condemning gender-based violence targeted to young people to be disseminated across various media channels over ten months.

Appiah Kwaku Boateng of 4-H Ghana in Ghana will support 600 new and existing 4-H school and community clubs in Ghana, which teach livelihood and life skills such as business planning, farming and communication, with a stronger focus on girls. This will serve to enhance the economic and education opportunities particularly for young girls who are more vulnerable to unemployment. They will recruit and train more women to run the clubs and engage girls by acting as mentors, and to act as district advisers.

Kanigula Mubagwa of the Panzi Foundation in DR Congo will test whether providing resources that simultaneously improve nutrition, income, and social status can help women and girls getting out of prostitution in the cities of DR Congo successfully reintegrate into more rural societies. Prostitutes and their families suffer from high levels of poverty and malnutrition. Individual strategies to support them often provide only temporary solutions.