Gender norms are the often implicit, informal rules by which people live that can lead to harmful attitudes, behaviours and actions such as violence and discrimination against women and girls. These are complex but critical concepts that need to be understood for better development policy and programming. While quality evidence on how to shift gender norms is growing, improved monitoring, evaluation and dissemination of evidence is vital for sustainable change.

The Advancing Learning and Innovation on Gender Norms (ALIGN) project, led by ODI and supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is a new initiative connecting those working on social and gender norms across a range of sectors and issues. Its aim is to further knowledge sharing and innovation to ensure evidence and learning on norm change informs more effective policy and practice.

This webinar introduces the ALIGN platform and discusses some of the key debates and concepts shaping cutting-edge development work on addressing harmful gender norms. Drawing from ODI’s research on gender norms alongside the experiences of projects in Uganda and India, the panel discusses:

• What are the key concepts and evidence for understanding gender norm change?
• How can programmes better respond to emerging evidence and context-specific dimensions of gender norms?
• What challenges, opportunities and learnings can be drawn from projects in Uganda and India to inform policy and practice?

Register your attendance here. 

Biographies

Dr. Suzanne Petroni is Principal & Owner at Gender Equality Solutions and an expert in gender equity and the health and rights of women and youth.

Dr. Caroline Harper is Head of Programme and Principal Research Fellow for the Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Programme at the Overseas Development Institute, where she leads the Advancing Learning and Innovation on Gender Norms (ALIGN) project.

Dr. Ravi Verma is Regional Director for the Asia Regional Office of the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) in new Delhi, India.

Lori Michau is Co-Director for Raising Voices, a feminist non-profit organisation based in Kampala, Uganda working to prevent violence against women and children.