Social norms and programming for behavior change

Protection

"When I first started thinking about social norms and the change model, I had a lot of questions running through my mind. I thought about what the model would bring to the table and how it would be incorporated into our work and project. Now, I am confident in my ability to establish programs that can change some of the negative social norms. I can also administer and evaluate those programs. During the course of the training, we were exposed to a variety of tools that proved to be extremely beneficial in facilitating our understanding of the principles of the change model. I also understand that we have to constantly monitor the social norms change and measure all indicators," shared Mohamed Sirat, a member of the Socio-Economic Development and Human Rights Organization (SEDHURO), a local #communitycare program partner working in Kismayo and Central Somalia.

Representatives from civil societies and government authorities in south-central Somalia and Puntland state attended a 6-days training on social norms programming and harmful practices led by CISP in Mogadishu. HIWA, SEDHURO, SCC, SHILCOM, TASS, and Y-PEERS were among the local civil society organizations that benefited from the training.

The goal of the training was to build civil society's capacity in social norm and behavior change programming and measurement in their respective areas of operation. The training was divided into three modules: laying the groundwork, making it practical, and rolling up our sleeves. The facilitators used various training facilitation methods to engage participants fully in the training including; the art of hosting, presentation, group work/exercises, preliminary discussions, role plays, and games.

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