aDolescents gEnder surVey, rEsponsible coupLes evaluatiOn, and capacity building Project in India (DEVELOP)

In India, gender equality is a key area for national development. Gender inequality particularly affects the health and wellbeing of girls and women – especially in deprived communities. Such inequality can influence the ability of women and girls to make household decisions, access education and healthcare. Work to address these problems in communities is a key aim of regional and national agencies in India. In the Maharashtra state, the Halo Medical Foundation (HMF) has been leading community development work to promote equitable gender relationships amongst married couples covering 40 villages through support of the SWISSAID (international aid agency). The ‘Responsible Couples’ project is a community-based intervention to address gender inequality and domestic discord/violence by working intensively with married couples to resolve their problems.

DEVELOP Phase 1 (2018 to 2019, completed)
The DEVELOP phase one project was successfully completed and has provided vital evidence to support the gender equality work of the Halo Medical Foundation (HMF). It comprised 4 strands of work (a) questionnaire survey of 1000+ adolescents from rural areas of Maharashtra, India about gender equality; (b) an evaluation of the ‘Responsible Couples Project’ to assess impact of the current intervention model; (c) research capacity building of NGO staff; (d) establishing an India-wide advisory group on gender equality research.
The data on adolescent gender equality attitudes and behaviour will inform HMF’s work in the future to develop interventions to address gender equality issues amongst young people in Maharashtra state. It has provided service evaluation data (service providers perspectives) that will assist the HMF to expand their work on gender equality through village level gender equality groups (known as NIRDHAR GAT) developed in rural areas of the state. The research capacity building element of this project has also strengthened the HMFs research team and will assist in future service evaluation.

DEVELOP Phase 2 (2019 to 2020, ongoing)
The objective of the phase two project is to conduct qualitative interviews with service users who have used services provided by the local gender equality promotion groups (NIRDHAR GAT) and HMF’s referral centre to explore; 1) how service users perceive the support they received, 2) how they understand changes at personal and family level occurred following their participation in the project, 3) understand what additional help they require now and in the future, and 4) explore opportunities to develop a similar project elsewhere in the country. The findings will inform gender equality work in India by generating evidence on this important area for use nationally and internationally with interventions designed to promote gender equality and reduce gender-based discrimination.
Secondly, through the phase two HMF with the support from SWISSAID identified a team of local experts who are then engaged in developing a training manual on gender equality. This will be used to formulate a uniform intervention strategy to be used in projects funded by the SWISSAID. The material will be developed in Marathi language considering our target population, local culture, resources to engage adolescents as well as adults in gender equality related development work.

The DEVELOP phase 1 and 2 research work is led by Professor Mark Hayter (Primary investigator) and Dr Anand Ahankari (lead co-investigator and project manager) from the University of Hull, UK. The project received support from additional members from UK and India as listed below.

DEVELOP Phase 1 team

Dr Pavel Ovseiko, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK
Dr Pratyush Kabra, Department of Community Medicine, Ashwini Rural Medical College, Hospital and Research Centre, Solapur, Maharashtra, India, 413006
Ms Sneha Giridhari, SWISSAID, Pune, Maharashtra, India, 411040
Dr Kranti Rayamane, Halo Medical Foundation, Andur, Osmanabad, Maharashtra, India, 413603
Dr Clare Whitfield, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Hull, Hull, HU6 7RX, UK
Dr Parveen Ali, School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S10 2LA, UK
Prof Shruti Tambe, Department of Sociology, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, Maharashtra, India, 411007
DEVELOP Phase 2 team
Dr Pavel Ovseiko, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK
Dr Pratyush Kabra, Department of Community Medicine, Ashwini Rural Medical College, Hospital and Research Centre, Solapur, Maharashtra, India, 413006
Ms Sneha Giridhari, SWISSAID, Pune, Maharashtra, India, 411040
Dr Kranti Rayamane, Halo Medical Foundation, Andur, Osmanabad, Maharashtra, India, 413603
Dr Clare Whitfield, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Hull, Hull, HU6 7RX, UK
Dr Parveen Ali, School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S10 2LA, UK
Funding support: HMF’s gender equality work implemented in Maharashtra state of India receives a dedicated financial support from the SWISSAID, Switzerland, and the project is monitored by SWISSAID’s India liaison office.
The DEVELOP phase 1 and phase 2 project are supported by the University of Hull, UK through the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) scheme.