Another project, ‘Program H' (for homens = men), has developed a training manual designed for health professionals and educators that consists of five booklets, one of which is on violence prevention. Program H was developed by PROMUNDO in collaboration with other Latin American organizations in 1999. The materials are available in Portuguese, Spanish and English. The project also produced the cartoon video ‘Once upon a boy' that addresses sexual and reproductive health-related issues important to adolescent boys and young men: first sex, machismo, violence, homophobia, pregnancy, STIs and HIV/AIDS, and fatherhood. Both resources are designed to be used in same-sex group sessions. Further, a lifestyle social marketing campaign using billboards, radio spots, posters, postcards and dances, complements the group sessions. The campaign aims to change community and social norms about what it means to be a man and tries to convey the message that it is "cool and hip to be a more gender-equitable man".

A recent study conducted by Horizons compared a Program H intervention with group education activities only with one combining group education with a community-based lifestyle campaign. There also was a control group in which no interventions took place. The preliminary results show that the programme did not only achieve more equitable gender norms in both interventions, but there were also significant improvements in HIV-risk attitudes and behaviours.¹ Condom use at last sex with a main partner increased and there was a reduction in reported STI symptoms. Young men with more equitable gender norms were less likely to report STI symptoms.

At present PROMUNDO is training local partners to adapt and replicate Program H work in other parts of Brazil, in other countries in South and Central America, and in India. In Africa, the organization is carrying out a World Bank-funded study on young men, HIV/AIDS and violence, which will inform Program H activities in African countries.

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