The Theory of Change maps out the actions that must be taken to address complex social problems. It defines a programme’s overall goals or vision for change, maps out the different social institutions and levels where change must be promoted, and sets out what actions will be taken to drive and achieve that change.

Behavioural sciences research has shown that interventions are rarely effective in promoting change if they are not theoretically grounded. The What Works to Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls Programme is guided by a clearly defined Theory of Change.

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THEORY OF CHANGE
	Fewer women and girls are exposed to gender-based violence
	An expanded cadre of researchers who can to conduct rigorous VAWG prevention evaluation research and to use evidence to influence policy and practice		Better VAWG prevention knowledge generation informed by stronger research designs		Major resource mobilisation for VAWG prevention from national treasuries and donors Widespread adoption of at a country-level of evidence-based and funded VAWG prevention strategy		Growing recognition that VAWG can be prevented Greater openess to new generation interventions
	Researchers equipped to continue to undertake VAWG prevention research Programmers equipped to design better VAWG prevention interventions and to scale up		Interventions ready for scale up, or export and adaptation for use elsewhere Knowledge to inform the next generation of interventions in research Knowledge to guide country-level and global strategies for VAWG prevention		More confidence in the field More funds More evidence-based programming		Fewer women and girls experiencing VAWG Incremental advance in knowledge of designa dn delivery of complex interventions
	#programmers, stakeholders and research with an in-depth understanding of evidence-based VAWG prevention # research equipped to undertake VAWG prevention research		Research reports and summaries of the findings of 21-26 impact evaluation and operations research project At least 26 peer-reviewed journal articles published Conference presentations given, and web summaries developed Aseries of knowledge synthesis reports published for stakeholders and programmers with accompanying peer-review journal articles		# of stakeholders understanding the role of science in VAWG prevention Impact of research on policy		# women and girls who are recipients of VAWG prevention New generations of intervention for VAWG prevention
	Bespoke in-person, email and videoconference TA Monthly webinar learning labs held over four year  Learning through doing Initial workshop for innovation grantees and annual meeting of researchers and programmers Experiences and tools disseminated through website, list serv, conferences and digital platforms		World leading scientific expertise Community of practise amongst researchers Funding for development of 10-14 programmes through innovation grants Funding for 5 operations research studies, 5 evaluation grant programmes, and 6 impact evaluations Funding for economic evaluation of inteventions and scale up		Strategic investment in research uptake multi-level communications plan and startegy for uptake globally and in-country Multi-media stakeholder capacity building Publication synthesising research findings and implications for policy and programming		Funding for development of 10-14 programmes through innovation grants
	CAPACITY		RESEARCH		UPTAKE		INNOVATION
	Build knowledge of social and economic determinants of VAWG in different settings	Build the evidence base through new evaluation research	Fund new high quality innovative programmers	Understand how to strengthen responses	build the capacity of stakeholding primary prevention of VAWG	Disseminate knowledge	Build knowledge of costs of VAWG prevention and impact of scale up on costs	Buil VAWG prevention programming and research expertise
	Limited understanding of primary prevention and differentiating it from response Limited science of ‘what works’ in VAWG prevention Overwhelming donor emphasis on strengthening responses Political sensitivity of the issues, especially resistance to implementing gender transformative programmers			Limited funds Limited VAWG research evaluation expertise global Insufficient conceptually strong interventions ready to evaluate The highest quality impact evaluations are technically very complex studies			Limited understanding of what is evidence-based VAWG prevention Low political priority leading to inadequate resources Perception that programmes are complex, expensive and hard to scale up. VAWG not a priority area of investment
	BARRIERS TO INVESTMENT IN PREVENTION		BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE EVALUATION RESEARCH			BARRIERS TO DELIVERING PREVENTION AT SCALE
	Globally one in three woman and girls experience violence in their lifetime. This is driven by the low status and power of women and girls, patriacal social norms, and social norms that regard the use of violence as acceptable, constructions of masculinity the emphasis control and dominance over women, and high levels of exposure to abuse and emotional trauma. It is exacerbated by poverty, problematic alcohol use and limited political and institutional will to prevent and respond. Despite this evidence, investment VAWG prevention is inadaquate.