Informed by qualitative research and learnings from project implementation thus far, CCI will engage with the community partners and GBV Forums to design and implement communication and community engagement interventions and activities that respond to detrimental beliefs and behaviours, while catalysing a cultural shift towards GBV in the project sites. CCI will ensure that these interventions and activities incorporate best practice global gender transformative approaches and strategies to address social norms, beliefs, attitudes and behaviours that promote GBV among diverse audiences, with an overall goal of influencing change at individual, social and community levels in alignment with the principles of the social ecological model.

Consistent with the ecological model, these strategies will include;

1. Structured participatory learning interventions for individuals and communities to facilitate community engagement and individual reflection on harmful social norms and behaviours. CCI will implement Interventions that are effective at addressing gender norms, behaviours and inequalities. Furthermore, interventions working with men and women (and boys and girls) will also be implemented. Evidence suggests that these interventions are more effective at reducing violence than single-sex interventions. Supporting in-school interventions that are already implemented by the community partners, CCI will support community partners to implement structured interventions for in-school youth. Based on engagement with the DBE and USAID, CCI will adapt DBE tools to facilitate activities to address GBV in schools and advocate for the adoption and implementation of school protocols on the management and protection of learners against different forms of GBV in schools.

To complement the structured interventions, CCI will support community partners to design and implement evidence informed community mobilisation activities to promote social acceptance of social norms and behaviours that promote GBV non-tolerance.

2. Project partners will conduct advocacy to influence public priorities and policy change on topical GBV issues. CCI has partnered with Active Learning Solutions to test the implementation of the Safetipin model in Alexandra. The App will be used by the Alexandra GBV Forum, led by ADAPT, to engage community members in a process to diagnose safety issues as well as monitor safety and violence in their respective communities. The App also provides useful information for municipal authorities to improve safety and reduce GBV. Insights from the pilot will inform how the Safetipin or other similar platforms, can be used in the other project sites. CCI will also raise public awareness on legal instruments and protocols that govern GBV response in the project sites.
3. Outreach communication to reinforce community engagement and discussion on thematic GBV topics and available services for survivors and perpetrators of GBV. Evidence shows that successful interventions have combined community mobilisation strategies with social norms marketing, an approach that combines mass media and marketing tools to change gender norms and behaviours. This is further evidenced by the success of the Brothers for Life (BFL) Rape Prevention Media campaign that was implemented by CCI in 2017/18. CCI will learn from the success of this campaign to design and implement a community media campaign to harmful gender norms and behaviours as guided by formative research findings. The campaign will use elements such as radio Public Service Announcements (PSAs), wall murals, posters, and social media. CCI will establish formal partnerships with six community radio stations (i.e. one from each implementation site) and their digital assets will be used as project information repositories and engagement centres. CCI will support the design of online technical materials for digital platforms including social media and WhatsApp platforms to challenge young men and women to rethink dominant gender norms. Digital platforms will also be used to facilitate faster and better feedback loops to ensure that the multisectoral GBV stakeholders remain focused on project outcomes.