Understanding how Change is Created through Participatory Women’s Groups in Kenya

Save the Children implemented a maternal and newborn health (MNH) programme, Boresha in Bungoma, Busia and Wajir counties in Kenya (2014-2018). One of the implementation approaches in the programme involves working with and mobilising communities to create sustainable demand for quality MNH services. Despite the existence of evidence on the effectiveness of participatory women’s groups, published research has generally been restricted to quantitative impact assessments with limited published research on the implementation approach or on how the interventions lead to expected outcomes and impact.

This research study has centred on this evidence gap with specific focus on implementation processes and the causal pathway underpinning the intervention, linking how programmatic inputs lead to results and how these lead to behaviour change amongst community members.