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Good practice Imported

Male Norms Initiative — Group Education & Community Engagement for Men, Addis Ababa

Ethiopia · Addis Ababa · See the Ethiopia profile · See the Addis Ababa profile

Evidence: Quasi-experimental Top 42% 74/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

A quasi-experimental group-education and community-engagement programme for young men in three low-income subcities of Addis Ababa cut self-reported past-6-month IPV perpetration from 53% to 38% among 809 participants, with matched gains in support for gender-equitable norms.

809 men
Baseline sample size (May–June 2008)
645 men
Endline sample retained (December 2008)
89 %
Retention rate (2008)
53 %
IPV perpetration, past 6 months, GE+CE arm (baseline) (2008)
38 %
IPV perpetration, past 6 months, GE+CE arm (endline) (2008)
60 %
IPV perpetration, past 6 months, CE-only arm (baseline) (2008)
37 %
IPV perpetration, past 6 months, CE-only arm (endline) (2008)
Male Norms Initiative — Group Education & Community Engagement for Men, Addis Ababa

Details

Maturity
Pilot
Promoter
Hiwot Ethiopia (technical support: EngenderHealth; evaluation: PATH & Miz-Hasab Research Institute)
Period
2008 (6-month intervention; baseline May–June 2008, endline December 2008)
Keywords
gender-based violence prevention, male engagement, HIV prevention, gender norms

Context

Hiwot Ethiopia, with technical support from EngenderHealth and funding via USAID/PEPFAR's Male Norms Initiative, ran a community-based programme with young men aged 15–24 in three low-income subcities of Addis Ababa — Gulele, Kirkos and Bole.

Activities

Participants were assigned to one of three arms: interactive group education combined with community engagement (GE+CE), community engagement alone (CE), or a comparison group with no intervention. Group sessions used participatory curricula to challenge inequitable gender norms and address the drivers of intimate partner violence (IPV) and HIV risk.

Results

An independent quasi-experimental evaluation led by PATH and Ethiopia's Miz-Hasab Research Institute surveyed 809 men at baseline (May–June 2008) and re-surveyed 645 (89% retention) six months later. In the combined GE+CE arm, self-reported IPV perpetration in the past six months fell from 53% to 38%; in the CE-only arm it fell from 60% to 37%; the comparison group showed negligible change. GE+CE participants were twice as likely as comparison-group men to shift toward more gender-equitable attitudes on a standardized scale.

Conclusions

The six-month follow-up window and reliance on self-reported perpetration are notable limitations acknowledged by the evaluators.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k)
Time to results
Short (< 1 year)
Staffing & skills
Delivered by Hiwot Ethiopia with technical support from EngenderHealth, Funded via USAID/PEPFAR's Male Norms Initiative, Independent evaluation by PATH and Ethiopia's Miz-Hasab Research Institute

Conditions for success

  • Participatory group-education curricula combined with broader community engagement (the GE+CE arm) produced the largest effect
  • Targeting young men aged 15–24 directly, in low-income subcities

Common failure modes

  • Six-month follow-up window and reliance on self-reported perpetration are notable limitations acknowledged by the evaluators
  • No evidence found of continued operation beyond the single 2008 cycle

Where it fits

Governance type
NGO-delivered, donor-funded (USAID/PEPFAR)
Scale
three subcities of Addis Ababa

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