To help men, women, and children heal from traumatic experiences of conflict and learn positive alternatives to violence, LPI conducts formative research on attitudes and behaviors regarding gender roles, experiences with and responses to violence, and more. This work informs the development and expansion of intervention programs and community campaigns designed to reduce gender-based violence and promote gender equality, nonviolence, and healing.

According to the “living peace” methodology, group therapy sessions always culminate with community celebration sessions that provide an ideal setting for testimonies and dialogue between participants and the rest of the community and lead to positive change for men and women who attend the celebrations. Community celebrations attract more than 3,000 participants each year in North and South Kivu. In addition, these positive stories of change are being broadcast on community radio stations in North and South Kivu. Radio messages reach more than 700,000 men and women each year according to data from the 2014 Demographic and Health Survey conducted in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In order to guarantee the sustainability of its peace initiatives, each year LPI trains 80 staff members of civil society organizations, the military, the police and medical personnel who become facilitators of “living peace” groups in order to promote positive masculinity among peers and within their communities.

LPI works to involve men and boys as allies when women are empowered economically. We develop programs that operate in conjunction with women’s economic empowerment initiatives to engage men as partners and ensure that they understand the positive effects of shifting gender roles around earning power. Because of this work, households participating in economic development programs are seeing higher income and less conflict.

LPI promotes men’s caregiving and active fatherhood to encourage equitable gender roles, prevent violence against women and children, and contribute to positive maternal and child health outcomes. Our experts offer positive messaging through media and training classes, particularly for new fathers and couples, which have reached a community of more than 100,000 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

We work with youth to question and transform harmful gender norms, support women’s empowerment, and promote respect for sexual health and diversity. We create and test new educational tools for gender equality, health promotion, and violence prevention; use sports as an entry point to reach young people and adults; and engage parents, teachers, health workers and religious leaders in the discussion.

High-quality research is the starting point for all LPI’s programs, campaigns, and advocacy efforts. Together with our partners, we carry out comprehensive qualitative and quantitative studies. We coordinate stand-alone research initiatives to inform national and international policies and programs designed to engage men for gender equality. We also conduct formative research and rigorous evaluations across all our program life cycles.

We prevent sexual and gender-based violence and the violence against children by working with men and other stakeholders (including medical, social, judicial and security professionals) to change the negative norms that perpetuate those harmful practice. We are establishing best practices for engaging men in the prevention of sexual and gender-based violence, and we have contributed to formative research, program development, and campaigns that promote nonviolent attitudes and behaviors related to gender.