Men can cook: Effectiveness of a men’s engagement intervention to change attitudes and behaviors in rural Ethiopia

World Vision’s SPIR program in Ethiopia integrated men’s engagement groups into a graduation model to address gender inequality at home. Through facilitated discussions on gender roles and shared responsibilities, the program helped shift attitudes and behaviors. A randomized controlled trial found that men’s involvement in household tasks and gender-equitable attitudes improved after one year — and only continued to grow over three years in groups that included the men’s sessions. These findings show that even light-touch men’s engagement can lead to lasting, measurable change in gender norms.