Bandebereho — Rwanda's Gender-Transformative Couples' Programme for Fathers, with RCT-Evidenced Cuts in Partner Violence

Bandebereho ("role model") is a gender-transformative programme implemented by the Rwanda Men's Resource Centre (RWAMREC) with Promundo and the Rwandan health system. Expectant fathers and new fathers are invited to 15 weekly group sessions (up to 45 hours) and their partners to 8 sessions, covering caregiving, couple communication, decision-making, family planning and violence. Local fathers act as volunteer facilitators; nurses and police officers co-facilitate the health and legal sessions.
A cluster-randomised trial (575 intervention and 624 control couples; Doyle et al., PLOS ONE 2018) found that at 21 months women in the intervention group reported lower past-year physical IPV (33.3% vs 56.5%, adjusted OR 0.37) and sexual IPV (35.0% vs 60.2%, OR 0.34). Couples also reported more male involvement in childcare and less physical punishment of children.
Limits: violence was measured by women's self-report only, the trial took place in a single country, and no cost-effectiveness data are reported. A longer-term follow-up reports that effects on IPV persisted.

Read the full analysis: https://evidencebasedprograms.org/document/bandebereho-couples-intervention-evidence-summary/