MOMENTUM Integrated Health Resilience assessed social norms in South Sudan regarding voluntary family planning and maternal health in 2021. The study also looked into menstrual hygiene, gender-based abuse, and wellness behaviour. One of the study’s recommendations is to encourage male engagement strategies, to include influencers as agents of change in social code transformation, and to include healthcare practitioners as collaborators in behavioural and social change and social code transformation.
The findings of the study will be used to inform ongoing MOMENTUM Integrated Health Resilience family planning and reproductive health programming, providing important insights into how social norms influence and hinder women’s agency in using modern contraception.