Project description 

SNMP was conceptualized after receiving multiple requests from NGOs for leadership and mentorship around social norms. To meet this need, LSHTM - in collaboration with multiple global intellectual partners - developed this programme to be taken by global regional leads to provide local in-depth training and sustained mentorship to implement the lessons learned into practice.

This programme has been designed and tested to be delivered by local institutions or organizations to small-medium sized NGOs and to tailor the mentorship component to the unique needs of each NGO. Organisations will be based on selection criteria, which may include components such as existing work on child protection and/or well-being, funding availability, leadership commitment, and the existence of a programmatic vision.

SNMP is flexible to be used for a blended approach of in-person and virtual training and mentorship. All materials are adaptable for global and remote teams and partnerships. 

How it works

Both leadership and technical staff from the three NGOs will be invited to participate in the initial 5-day training and to participate in the mentorship year following. The mentorship programme begins with a 5-day training to cover the fundamentals of social norms research and programming including topics such as identifying and diagnosing social norms and monitoring and evaluation. From this training, participants will gain tools to use to apply social norms in their programming.

Following the training, a year of sustained mentorship will occur. Those who participated in the training will attend regular meetings to follow the mentorship guidelines which are designed to build on concepts from the training. The pace and content of this mentorship period is flexible to meet the needs of the mentee organizations. We will learn from the experiences of mentors and mentees through a half-point check-in and reflection at the end of the mentorship period. 

All SNMP Training Tracks

Track 1: Half day training 

Track 1 is intended for decision-makers in international and local organisations, including donors, who want an introduction to social norms. This track includes a half-day workshop to help them understand what social norms are as well as explore their interest in integrating them in their work.

Track 1: Half day training agenda

• Introduction to social norms: An underused lever for social change
• Why do people comply with social norms? A series of examples
• Who is influential and who is not?
• Approaches to identifying norms: A review of a few strategies.
• Facilitating social norms change: What strategies have worked in the past?

Track 2: Three day training 

Track 2 is designed for technical advisors and consultants who have programmatic influence in their or other people’s organisations. This track includes a 3-day laboratory, where participants are invited to discuss and refine practical tools to integrate social norms in programming and M&E. As part of this track, we also set up a remote Help Desk assistance and periodic “virtual labs” (limited to participants in the face-to-face laboratory). These virtual labs allow this emerging community of practice to learn from their reciprocal experiences in building capacity on social norms.

Track 2: Three day training agenda

Day 1

• Starting the work: A practical and friendly introduction to social norms
• Power, gender and intersectionality: Transforming gender norms for social justice
• How do social norms affect our lives and the life of our participants?
• How can we diagnose social norms to understand what norms are affecting our practice of interest (with an in-house exercise)?

Day 2

• How do social norms fit into your theory of change?
• How can we take into account the multiple structural factors that affect people’s behaviour, and how social norms intersect with them?
• How can we pick which social norms to prioritise for facilitating effective change? (With an in-house exercise)

Day 3

• Norms change spontaneously all the time, but why? (With a few case studies)
• How do interventions facilitate change in social norms?
• What strategies can we implement to monitor and evaluate change in social norms? (With an in-house exercise)
• Training Evaluation

Track 3: Five day training 

Track 3 includes a 5-day training as well as a 12-month mentorship programme, where organisations are accompanied and receive sustained mentorship support. The content for this training was developed for NGOs working on child protection, however can be adapted for other practices of interest with advance notice.

Track 3: Five day training agenda

Day 1

• Starting the work: A practical and friendly introduction to social norms
• Power, gender and intersectionality: Transforming gender norms for social justice
• How do social norms affect our lives and the life of our participants?

Day 2

• What ethical considerations do we need to take into account in our work? (With time for presentation of work)
• How do social norms fit into your theory of change?
• How can we diagnose social norms to understand what norms are affecting our practice of interest? (With an in-house exercise)

Day 3

• There are so many norms affecting our work, how can we prioritise?
• Norms change spontaneously all the time, but why? (With a few case studies)
• How can we take into account the multiple structural factors that affect people’s behaviour, and how social norms intersect with them?

• What strategies work best to monitor and evaluate social norms?

Day 4

• How do interventions facilitate change in social norms
• Introduction to understanding monitor and evaluate change in social norms
• What methods can be used to diagnose and monitor social norms (With in-house exercises)

Day 5

• What strategies can we implement to monitor and evaluate change in social norms? (With an in-house exercise)
• Course recap (Presentations and open learning session)
• How can we implement what we’ve learned: Next steps with the mentorship process (With in-house exercises)
• Training evaluation