Growing Up GREAT!: Scaling up gender-transformative sexuality education for adolescents in Democratic Republic of the Congo: A summary of the Growing up GREAT! Project

Adolescent reproductive health is a key social issue in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Growing Up GREAT! (GUG) was developed to address these issues via a nine-month multi-level intervention package that seeks to shift key health and gender-focused norms among VYAs and the adults in their lives. Implemented in two communes in Kinshasa—Kimbanseke and Masina—from September 2017- May 2018, GUG aimed to: 1) increase puberty and reproductive health (RH) knowledge, gender-equitable attitudes and behaviors, and self-efficacy of girls and boys ages 10 to 14; and 2) engage adolescents’ parents/caregivers, teachers, health providers and other influential community members within VYAs’ social systems to foster an environment that values and supports adolescents’ journeys through puberty.