The African Transformation (AT) project aims to promote gender equity, participatory development, and community action by bringing women and men together in a participatory workshop-style setting to explore and discuss how various aspects of gender impacts their well-being. During community-based workshops, participants view audio and video profiles of women, men, and couples from Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia who are considered role models who have overcome gender barriers and challenges in their own lives. AT is a project of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health/Center for Communication Programs (JHUCCP).

The evaluation survey took place in Uganda between June and July of 2006. The study population consisted of 116 women and 109 men who had participated in at least 3 AT sessions and the same number of both women and men who were enrolled in AT, but had not yet participated. The research team assumed that those connected to the local agencies conducting the workshops would be more predisposed to enrol. Therefore, the researchers identified a comparable group with statistically similar socio-demographic characteristics by randomly selecting a sample of individuals from those registered for upcoming workshops. Interviews of this control group took place immediately prior to the commencement of their training.

According to the evaluation, female participants were more likely to talk to other women about negotiating techniques (75% compared to 61.9%).

Participants in the evaluation survey, male as well as female, expressed a significantly more equitable view of men's and women's roles than was true of non-participants. Overall, male and female participants reported significantly higher overall levels of efficacy than did their non-participant counterparts. In particular, both male and female participants were significantly more likely to say they could take action to reduce violence against women and that they could perform tasks not traditionally associated with their own gender. AT participants who took part in 5 or more sessions were significantly more likely to score higher on the gender-equity scale. One particularly illustrative question on the scale asks respondents if they agree or disagree with the statement: "There are times when a woman deserves a beating". Nearly 90% of men and 85% of women who attended 5 or more sessions disagreed, as compared to only 70% of male and 65% of female non-participants. Respondents reported many changes with respect to attitudes about women's abilities and came away with an enhanced appreciation of the benefits that accrue when men and women work together. Men and women alike reported that participation in the workshops changed their attitudes about men's roles and appropriate behaviours. Nearly 7 of 10 male respondents reported that they had come to recognise the importance of shared decision-making and joint action.

Researchers developed a Community Action Index to measure respondents' overall level of participation in community activities. Interviewers asked whether respondents (1) knew about any community groups that discuss important local issues, (2) had participated in any of these meetings, (3) had spoken at any of them, and (4) had helped organise any such meetings themselves. Each positive response was worth 1 point, for a total possible score of 0 to 4. Both male and female participants scored approximately 3.5 on the scale, whereas their non-participating counterparts registered nearly a full point lower. The evaluation also found that participants were more likely to have started a new business (49.1% compared to 28.7%), worked to improve the community (82.8% compared to 71.3%), or taken part in efforts to eliminate harmful traditional practices (34.5% compared to 19.1%). While the differences were less striking among men, male participants were significantly more likely to report being involved in an activity to reduce or eliminate harmful traditional practices.

African Transformation Engenders Self-Efficacy, Improves Gender Norms, and Increases Community Participation, Communication Impact, July 2007, Number 23 [PDF] and Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Programs (JHUCCP) website on May 28 2008 and April 21 2009.