Phase 2 Theory of Change

Tipping Point Phase 2 Theory of Change (ToC) outlines the pathways through which synchronized engagement with girls and boys, parents, and community members strengthens adolescent girl empowerment and reduces child marriage. The ToC was developed based on learnings from Phase 1 of the project and the existing research and programmatic evidence on how social and gender norms drive adolescents’ lives in the contexts of Nepal and Bangladesh.

The Tipping Point ToC is grounded in principles of gender transformative change and focuses on creating impact across all three interrelated domains of the Gender Equality and Women Voices Framework (GEWV): agency, relations and structures. Tipping Point moves beyond adolescent girls’ individual agency to facilitate household- community-level action to challenge and shift social norms perpetuating child marriage.

To enable this complex change driven by interrelated components of agency, relations and structures, Tipping Point’s synchronized approach is rooted in challenging social expectations and repressive norms and promoting girl-driven movement building and collective action, components designed to help adolescent girls and their communities find, and collectively step into, spaces to challenge inequality. The Tipping Point ToC underlines that social norms change is complex and nonlinear; thus, its outcomes and pathways of change are interlinked and interdependent. 

Tipping Point’s focus on agency not only expands knowledge and skills but importantly fosters self-confidence and critical consciousness of one’s rights. The development of each of these components of agency is rooted in gender equitable attitudes. For instance, knowledge of sexual and reproductive health is fostered in tandem with a reflection on gender normative barriers to accessing those services. Similarly, building girls’ negotiation skills to access services and education is linked with intergroup dialogues with their fathers and mothers, fostering relational change within families. 

Relationship-based change is borne out at between girls and those around them – particularly at household level. Within families, Tipping Point goes beyond girls’ skills and knowledge to enhance connectedness, trust to enhance the impact of girls’ negotiation for their rights. Within girls’ collectives, peer networks grow and activate for community-level norms shifting and activism. Finally, girls’ relationships with boy and parent allies as well as their relationships to gatekeepers – such as religious leaders – shifts to enhance and sustain community- and structural-level changes. 

Structural change facilitated by Tipping Point is rooted in community-level social norms shifting, shaped by girls-centered movement building and activism, supported by engagement of formal and informal structures to become gender-equitable allies for girls’ rights. Government, school, and religious leaders play a central role in these shifts as they become active voices for gender equality and substantively support girls’ aspirations and needs by backing inclusive procedures and services. 

Underlying the three domains of agency, relations and structures, Tipping Point is dedicated to staff transformation, supporting our effective and sincere work with communities. This value is rooted in the CARE’s Social Action and Analysis model for gender transformation and Gender Equality and Inclusion (GED) models utilized by Tipping Point. SAA and GED encourage project staff to become active champions of gender equality, increase individual and collective self-efficacy, and foster community-led change to foster positive shifts in social and gender norms. 

For a detailed list of outcomes and indicators, please check Tipping Point Phase 2 Results Framework here.

[PDF here]