Social norms and traditions that govern men’s and women’s roles, responsibilities and expectations can often be harmful and create barriers to health and equality. African Transformations, a community-based workshop program implemented in Uganda and developed by the Health Communication Partnership, encourages men and women to challenge these traditional norms and take action to change them.

Okello* admits that he used to think like any Ugandan man in his home. “I used to think…I am the head of the family and my powers were unquestionable and wives were just property.”

But then Okello went through a transformation of sorts, an African Transformation.

The African Transformation (AT) program, developed by The Health Communication Partnership (HCP), in collaboration with the Communication for Development Foundation Uganda (CDFU), consists of workshops that use nine profiles – in audio, video and written form – of women, men and couples from Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, who serve as role models for overcoming barriers and challenges due to gender. The profiles generate discussion on themes such as social roles, traditional and cultural norms, gender and equity, and violence between partners. A trained facilitator guides the discussions so that, coupled with the profiles, participants will learn new behaviors, identify their own strengths and develop skills to behave in the positive ways modeled in the profiles.

Okello participated in one of the AT community workshops held in five districts across Central Uganda.

“Now I know we are on the same level,” he says. “She respects me as her husband and I respect her as my wife.”

An evaluation of Uganda’s AT program showed that transformations similar to Okello’s occurred in many men and women who took part in the program. Both male and female participants were more likely than non-participants to believe they could make a difference in their lives and communities. Participants were also more likely to say they could take action to reduce violence against women and that they could perform tasks not traditionally associated with their own gender.

The ultimate goal of AT is to go beyond transforming attitudes and notions of self-efficacy, into affecting outcomes and actions taken. Female AT participants showed that they did take action, by starting new businesses, working for community improvements, or talking with other women about partner negotiation skills, in far greater numbers than those women who did not participate in AT. While the differences were less striking in men, male participants were significantly more likely to report actively working to reduce harmful traditional practices.