Recasting social norms to universalize education for adolescent girls: The Mamidipudi Venkatarangaiya Foundation experience | Publications

This dialogue paper gives a counterpoint to the behaviour change methods proposed by the Social Norms Strategy within the area of worldwide improvement. It discusses the community-led and multi-layered method of the Mamidipudi Venkatarangaiya Basis (MVF) in Telangana State, India, to reworking social norms on little one labour, schooling, and gender.

The MVF’s programme on universalizing schooling for adolescent women is rooted within the perception that it’s doable to vary the patriarchal values that rule society. It addresses a broad vary of obstacles to ladies’ education, reminiscent of:

• gender discrimination,
• little one labour,
• early marriage,
• cultural boundaries,
• lack of security and safety,
• insufficient services in faculties, and
• restrictions to bodily mobility.

Credible and mounting proof from the sector exhibits that:

• adolescent women within the programme areas are actually in a position to train company and demand their rights;
• dad and mom have stopped forcing women into early marriage and are permitting them to observe their aspiration for secondary schooling;
• public servants are defending the rights of women; and
• even historically conservative our bodies, reminiscent of caste panchayats and monks, are coming round to the concept early marriage has unfavorable results and are refusing to solemnize the marriages of minors.

Information from MVF area mobilizers and from an impartial examine of the adolescent women’ programme are supplied to substantiate the success of the method in bringing about sustainable norm change and concrete enhancements in outcomes for ladies. These constructive outcomes had been proven to persist regardless of the COVID-19 lockdown.

This paper is a part of the “UN Women discussion paper series”.