The pilot programme has evolved into a very sound programme.  We aim to make it a gold standard programme, which takes into account the potential to replicate, scale up the programme and deliver demonstrable evidence over a period of time. At ECF, we are honest about the fact that we have made mistakes but we take pride in the fact that we are learning from our mistakes and are coming up with innovative solutions.

Some of the key areas of programme development that we are working on are:

1. Better understanding of individual community characteristics and overall profile

We need better planning of the operations schedule, understanding the community’s way of life (priorities, holidays, festivals, concerns, etc.). If the programme is to be replicated in different communities across different geographical regions we must make the programme schedule flexible without letting the target number of events, men and women we work with get affected.

2. Improved curriculum

Though the curriculum modules developed by ECF are proving to be effective, there is scope for improvement based on the following points:

• Developing the overall content and the examples in the modules to be more  relevant to adolescent men from urban slum communities

• Developing the participatory elements of the modules 

• Improving modules to ensure that they deliver the desired impact – behaviour change in men.

3. Improved monitoring and evaluation framework

At present, the tools we use to measure the behaviour change in men and how it affects the women in their lives are weak. We are in the process of strengthening the monitoring and evaluation strategy so as to be able to measure change not just in a man right after graduation but over a period of time (at least 1.5 years) and not just with women within families but in the wider community.