Unite for a Better Life
Preventing violence against women is possible
Working together with local communities, the Unite for a Better Life (UBL) program was designed to prevent intimate partner violence. It works through either facilitated group-based gender dialogues or through community co-created podcast episodes. Both versions of the program involve “crucial conversations” that enable women and men to actively examine and challenge inequitable gender norms and roles, and develop and practice important relationship skills.
Crucial Conversations.
Bold Change.
Unite for a Better Life’s gender dialogues in either form are delivered within the context of a cultural practice to increase cultural relevance and potential effectiveness. The in-person sessions are delivered by trained facilitators to groups of women, men or couples, while the podcast episodes are broadcast at Listening Centers or can be listened to at home on one’s own mobile device.
Sessions / episodes address gender, healthy sexuality, conflict resolution, household task-sharing, substance use, and sexual harassment.
The UBL program was rigorously tested with a large cluster-randomized controlled trial in rural Ethiopia.
The trial demonstrated that program was effective in reducing intimate partner violence by up to 50% when delivered to groups of men. UBL led to more equitable relationships, including greater joint decision-making, men’s involvement in domestic tasks like cooking and childcare, and communication between partners about sensitive topics such sexual relationships. Importantly, the benefits of the program diffused beyond participating households, with positive effects observed among community members that did not join the UBL sessions.
Unite for a Better Life has been adapted for various contexts and modalities. Learn more about UBL here.
Culturally relevant community-based interventions can be an effective avenue for reducing intimate partner violence by transforming underlying attitudes, beliefs and norms.
The human voices within the data
Abdullali, a married man living in a refugee camp took part in the couples’ UBL program with his wife. One year after participation, he described some of the life-changing impacts the program has had on his family. Through the UBL program, Abdullahi and his wife challenged inequitable gender norms and roles and improved their communication skills.
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His wife dreamed of opening a restaurant. Abdullali decided to support her, reversing his previous stance. The restaurant opened and has been successful. While his wife worked, Abdullali took care of household duties, such as fetching water and firewood. He even brought their one year-old child to the restaurant several times a day so his wife could breastfeed without disrupting her work. “Before I believed it was only the husband who has the power to work,” he says. He was proud that his wife was generating income.
“Only I used to make the decisions,” he says. “But now we make decisions together.”
Resources
Unite for a Better Life Program Resources
Further information about UBL can be found on the UBL website and in the resources below.
IPV Program Adaptation Guidance
Interested in adapting UBL or another effective IPV prevention program for your context? Access our innovative IPV-ADAPT+ Framework - a practical, evidence based guide on adapting IPV programs.