Responsible, Engaged, and Loving (REAL) Fathers
Uganda · India
[Add a short quote from a father, partner, or mentor here.]
Overview
The REAL Fathers initiative is a community-based mentoring program that capitalizes on a key period of transition (when young men become fathers) to prevent intimate partner violence and harsh discipline of young children. First piloted in post-conflict northern Uganda, REAL Fathers has since been scaled up, rigorously evaluated, and adapted for new settings, and is now part of a national scale-up with Uganda’s Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development.
In REAL Fathers, trained community mentors work with young fathers ages 16 to 25 who are parenting a child ages 1 to 5, helping them build skills that improve the use of positive parenting and nonviolent discipline, increase positive couple communication, increase voluntary family planning use, and foster acceptance of gender-equitable roles within families.
Learn about the model See the evidence
Program Snapshot
- Countries
- Uganda; India (West Bengal)
- Status
- National scale-up in Uganda, ongoing
- Partners
- [List lead partners]
- Funders
- [List current and past funders]
Resources
REAL Fathers Implementation Resources
- Implementation Guide: REAL Fathers Implementation Guidelines
REAL Fathers Pilot | Uganda
- Fact Sheet: REAL Fathers Initiative Pilot
- Brief: REAL Fathers Pilot Results
- Journal Article: Evaluation of the REAL Fathers Initiative on Physical Child Punishment and Intimate Partner Violence in Northern Uganda
REAL Fathers Scale-Up | Uganda
- Fact Sheet: REAL Fathers Initiative Scale-up
- Brief: Findings from Scale-up Evaluation of the REAL Fathers Program in Uganda
- Brief: The REAL Fathers Initiative: Results from a Qualitative Evaluation of Scale-Up in Uganda
- Report: Theory of Change: The REAL Fathers Initiative in Karamoja and Acholi