We assess the determinants of key behaviors and the contexts in which they occur. We design evidence-based programs that address factors at multiple levels of wider social systems. Our behavior change interventions create demand for products and services, mobilize communities, address policies and laws, and improve individual and community skills.
Through the Strengthening the Social Acceptance of Family Planning (TSAP-FP) project, FHI 360 helped initiate a process of broad dialogue among imams in the mostly Muslim Mindanao region of the Philippines and with counterparts in other countries. These local religious leaders then issued a fatwa, or a religious ruling, endorsing the use of modern contraceptives.
In Kenya and Tanzania, our Mobile for Reproductive Health (m4RH) texting program helps citizens find health clinics, receive text messages about family planning and participate in surveys about their reproductive health and habits.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the C-Change project promoted positive social and gender norms to reduce gender-based violence in schools. Using the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Safe Schools curriculum, C-Change trained male and female students ages 10–14 to spot and report violence and model safer interactions. In Cambodia, we developed the “You’re the Man” reality TV series, which challenges male contestants ages 18–35 to reconsider their definitions of manhood while promoting the adoption of healthy behaviors.
In Tanzania, our researchers studied how to communicate that male circumcision reduces the risk of acquiring HIV but needs to be combined with other HIV prevention methods.