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Evaluation 101

NGO Salud y Género estimates that it alone has spent about 150,000 pesos
(about US$14,555) a year on Program H curriculum interventions in Mexico,
but explains that due to the uncertain nature of funds and resources, it is not
possible to establish precise budgets for the workshops. As the need is mani-
fested, the organizations search for ways to meet that need (G. Ayala, Salud y
Género, personal communication, May 27, 2008).
The success of Programs H and M rely mightily on the diversity of their
partners and their combined strengths. The positive outcomes of Program H
encouraged the Alliance partners to invest in Program M and even attracted ad-
ditional partners, including the MacArthur Foundation, World Education (in
the United States), and the Special Secretariat of Women’s Policies (in Brazil). In
these projects—as in most social marketing initiatives—partnerships are the key
to success because social marketers, although employing the 4Ps of marketing,
usually lack the infrastructure and the marketplace environment commercial
marketers take for granted.

EVAL UATI O N

In the case of Programs H and M, evaluation methodologies were put into place
even before the campaigns were field-tested. (See Box 4-4.)
These workshops were the first time many participants had discussed the so-
cietal ramifications of being a man. Márcio Segundo of Instituto Promundo was
the study’s research coordinator. He said Program H’s creative participatory activ-
ities sparked critical thinking about “issues that affect their lives, such as sex, HIV,
relationships, violence, drugs, and fatherhood” (Hutchinson et al., 2004, p. 5). In
one of the communities evaluated, the use of condoms increased from 58% to
87% after participating in Program H. That survey also revealed that the percent-
age of men who agreed with the statement, “the most important role of a woman
is to take care of the house and cook” shrank from 40% to 29% (de Botton, 2007).
Altered attitudes translated into new behaviors. One young man said,
“Before [the workshops] I had sex with a girl, I had an orgasm, and then left her.
If she got pregnant, I had nothing to do with it. But now, I think before I act”
(Pulerwitz, et al., 2006, p. 20).
Overall, Program H evaluations show group discussions that prompt criti-
cal reflection about the costs of traditional manhood, and a media campaign
that demonstrates gender-equitable behaviors encourage young men to make
changes that protect themselves and their partners from HIV infection. Findings
also indicate improvements in both condom use and a reduction in reported
STI symptoms with groups that participated in Program H training.