Addressing Social Norms in the Context of SPJ Operations : Learning by doing - insights from the RSR gender window

Most social protection and jobs (SPJ) interventions have a behavior change dimension. As such, understanding social norms, and to what extent they drive the behaviors of interest is key to good project design. SPJ interventions can shift social norms towards greater gender equality or reinforce potentially harmful norms. Designing or implementing interventions to deliberately change social norms is an emerging area for SPJ projects that requires specialized expertise. Social and gender norms may influence the effective implementation or enforcement of laws and policies critical to advancing gender equality and improving women's economic empowerment. A range of approaches are used to identify and measure social norms. This brief offers some key questions and methods for formative research to inform project design or monitoring and evaluation