Summary/Overview

Coaching Boys Into Men (CBIM) is an evidence-based violence prevention programme that trains and motivates young men and boys’ healthy relationship and behaviours. The program leverages sporting contexts to influence positive notions of masculinities among the participants, addressing gender-based violence (GBV) and gender equality. The evidence-based programme has had broad uptake around the world.

Problem Statement

Zambia has high violence prevalence with 47% of women having experienced some form of violence in their lifetime according to the 2018 Zambia Demographic Health survey. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) with funding from the United States Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has adopted CBIM as an HIV and GBV prevention intervention for boys aged 10 -14 years old. The program uses soccer as popular sport many boys enjoy playing as a platform used by trained coaches to disseminate GBV prevention messages to the participants. The aim is to prevent perpetration of violence. The majority of perpetrators of violence are males (65%) in Zambia. There is a need for targeted programmes and interventions that engage men and boys to address harmful notions of masculinity and influence positive behaviours and facilitate healthy relationships.  The program plays a key role in influencing drivers of gender-based violence and contributing to gender equality and equity in communities.

About the Programme

The Zambian Ministry of Youth, Sport & Arts, working in collaboration with Centre for Communication Programmes (ZCCP) also known as Kwatu with funding support from USAID and PEPFAR facilitated the development of the training manual in 2021 for a programme called Coaching Boys Into Men (CBIM). The programme aims at training boys from the age of 7 – 14 how to prevent gender-based violence using football. The training runs for a period of 13 weeks.

Coaching Boys Into Men (CBIM) is the only evidence-based violence prevention program that trains and motivates high school coaches to teach their young male athletes in healthy relationship skills, mental health practices, and that violence never equals strength through weekly discussions. By leveraging the power of sports, coaches, and community Advocates, CBIM can transform the culture of our teams, schools, and communities. CBIM is an important intervention in fighting GBV in the Zambian communities and a milestone of enhancing integrity in sport.

Challenges

Despite the great successes scored on the implementation of CBIM, we noted a few challenges and expectations from stakeholders, especially government.

1. Ministry of Education (MOE) and Ministry of Youth Sport and Arts (MYSA) were part of the stakeholders that reviewed the CBIM curricular to what was called a ‘Zambianized’ version before authority for the Minister of Youth Sports and Arts could launch the national curricular in 2021. Three years later, and with change of leadership at MOE, a request was made by MOE that CBIM curricular though approved and launched by Ministry of Youth must be reviewed by the Curriculum Development Centre (CDC) before it can be fully implemented in schools. The project already trained MOE Standard Officers and Physical Education Teachers and Coaches with their approval before this new shift on their position.
2. MOE has requested that we should not be implementing CBIM in schools during the period of September to December. This is the period that the ministry administers exams and end of academic year assessments.
3. Government has appreciated the CBIM innovation and integrated it in all sports federations. They have requested translation of the curricular into six other major local languages and braille for the visually impaired. Their request is to have materials printed for national use which is way beyond our budget. The program is being implemented in selected districts of the country.
4. Zambia lacks supplies for blind footballs for athletes with visual impairment. During engagements with children with disabilities, only physically challenged and hard to hear (deaf) children get involved

Successes

• CBIM has been adopted by government of Zambia in particular the Ministry of Sports & Arts
• Zambia’s biggest public university, the University of Zambia, has adopted it and offering it as a short course.
• National Sports Council of Zambia, to which all sporting federations are affiliated, has embraced the program to prevent GBV in communities.
• From 2020 to 2023, nearly 250,000 boys aged 10-14 graduated from the Coaching Boys Into Men evidence-based violence prevention program. The boys are now educating others to increase respect for girls and women.

Lessons

• It is essential to engage men and boys in dialogues about gender-based violence and gender inequalities to challenge the myth that gender equality is a ‘women’s issue’.
• As influencers and role models, coaches are uniquely poised to deliver CBIM. They are central to CBIM’s success.
• Actively engaging key stakeholders such as the government, and using existing infrastructure, processes, and systems, is key to sustainability of programs beyond donor support. CBIM is now appearing as a budget line item in Zambia’s National Budget.
• Leveraging existing and popular opportunities, such as community led sport, as a platform to develop and deploy interventions in communities is likely to enhance participant experience and can contribute to successes in terms of educating beneficiaries on harmful practices.

Evidence-based programs, like CBIM, are integral in ensuring best practices at a local level are developed to challenge gender-based violence and harmful masculinities. Monitoring and evaluation are essential in tracking behaviour and culture change, and determining the effectiveness of each programme, along with identifying areas to continue to address.

Additional Resources

• 1. Coaching Boys into Men Resource https://coachescorner.org/
  2. Futures Without Violence, https://policy.futureswithoutviolence.org/
  3. Coaching boys to men video [to be included on website] https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tYq9UhjldI2q48Yt0lo2pZPsDSPtdxk4/view

     The video produced by USAID Stop GBV Now project implemented by Zambia Center for Communications Programs (ZCCP) is a documentary that explains the GBV statistics in Zambia and how males are the main perpetrators of GBV influenced by issues such as cultural and social norms. The CBIM model is used to promote gender equality and prevent violence against women. The success story includes a CBIM beneficiary John and how the government of Zambia has adopted the approach and a statement of governments commitment to support the approach by Mr. Elvis Nkandu Minister of sports and arts in Zambia.

  4. USAID stop gender-based violence, Zambia centre for communication programmes project- fy 22 annual progress report. p 11-13. https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/pa00zzm7.pdf
  5. UNICEF https://www.unicef.org/zambia/stories/coaching-boys-men#_ftn1

Authors

• Johans Mtonga, Executive Director Zambia Center for Communications Programs (ZCCP)
• Raymond Havwala, Male Engagement Technical Advisor ZCCP, Lusaka Zambia

References

• Zambia Statistics Agency, Ministry of Health (MOH) Zambia, and ICF. 2019. Zambia Demographic and Health Survey 2018. Lusaka, Zambia, and Rockville, Maryland, USA: Zambia Statistics Agency, Ministry of Health, and ICF

• Ministry of Youth, Sport & Arts, 2021, https://www.mysa.gov.zm/?p=1323