NEW DATA: PMC helps change norms in nepal

What if for 91 cents you could help change the social norms that perpetuate child marriage, limit adolescent reproductive health, and normalize violent discipline of children?

Rope Guna Fal (“You Reap What You Sow”) was a 104-episode radio drama broadcast nationally across Nepal from September 2021 to September 2022, with a focus on Karnali, Lumbini, and Sudur Paschim provinces. Funded by UNICEF and The Kendeda Fund and produced in partnership with Antenna Foundation Nepal, the show engaged an estimated 325,026 Nepalis every week at a cost to PMC of just $0.91 per loyal listener.

PMC produced the first season of Rope Guna Fal in partnership with UNICEF and Antenna Foundation Nepal. The show’s success led to a second season — with PMC again selecting and training writers, facilitating storylines, mentoring the production team, and conducting the endline evaluation. In addition to radio and online platforms, the show was made available for offline listening through a voice-based platform (Viamo) to reach hard-to-access communities.

“We have observed significant shifts in intention and behaviors on parenting, child marriage, and adolescent reproductive health among regular listeners,” said Rajan Parajuli, PMC’s Country Director in Nepal. “PMC’s multi-issue approach allows for nuanced and varied storylines.”

The impact

The endline data revealed shifts across all three of the show’s core objectives: reducing child marriage, improving adolescent sexual and reproductive health, and strengthening parenting.

On child marriage, Rope Guna Fal resulted in an estimated 54,000 people intending to stop child marriage in their family and community. Listeners were 5.5 times more likely than non-listeners to express that intention, and 3.8 times more likely to report having taken concrete actions to discourage child marriage. That 3.8x figure represents meaningful growth: for PMC-Nepal’s two previous shows — Mai Sari Sunakhari (“Orchid Like Me”) and Hilkor (“Ripples in the Water”) — listeners were 2.1 times more likely than non-listeners. The magnitude of behavior change is increasing with each successive show.

On adolescent reproductive health, the show resulted in an estimated 88,000 people believing that adolescents in their community talk about sexually transmitted infections — normalizing conversations that had previously been taboo. Listeners were 3 times more likely than non-listeners to hold that belief.

On parenting, Rope Guna Fal resulted in an estimated 72,000 people believing their community does not find it acceptable to scold or beat children as a form of discipline. Listeners were one-third as likely as non-listeners to believe that violent discipline is community-accepted.

Jodhani’s story

More than half of loyal listeners told friends and family about the show and discussed the issues it raised. With large portions of the audience changing their own beliefs and actions, they became role models in their communities.

Jodhani, a 40-year-old loyal listener, is one of them. She desperately wanted to go to school as a child but was denied an education because she was a girl. She married young to a man who had neither education nor wealth, but her dream stayed alive. Despite the disapproval of her in-laws, she and her husband decided she would gain an education alongside their youngest son. She enrolled in school and learned with him. Some of her grandchildren helped her learn the alphabet.

It was attaining that basic education that allowed Jodhani to become a community social worker. Already invested in addressing violence, caste discrimination, and child marriage, Rope Guna Fal gave her the tools she needed to create real change. “I have been advocating to end child marriage,” she said. “I tell about the consequences to health, education, and how it would affect their life.” She uses the characters in Rope Guna Fal to engage people she previously could not reach on these issues — the characters make concepts real without someone having to have that lived experience. Raising her voice, she said, has become easier. More people are listening — and agreeing to create change.

Why narrative change matters

Shifting deeply entrenched social norms — around child marriage, adolescent sexuality, and parenting — does not happen in a single broadcast cycle. These are beliefs woven into family structures, religious traditions, and community identity. They resist change precisely because they feel like truths rather than choices.

The SRHR field has historically focused on services, policy, and legal frameworks — and those are essential. But without shifting what people believe is normal, acceptable, and possible, services go underutilized, policies go unenforced, and legal protections exist on paper but not in practice. Narrative change addresses the layer that other interventions often overlook: the stories communities tell themselves about how life should work.

That is why PMC-Nepal has invested in sustained, multi-show engagement since 2016, with funding from The Kendeda Fund. Rope Guna Fal built on the foundation laid by Mai Sari Sunakhari and Hilkor — and the data shows that each successive show deepens the impact. Listeners of Rope Guna Fal were 3.8 times more likely to have taken action against child marriage; for the two earlier shows, that figure was 2.1 times. The magnitude of change is growing because beliefs are shifting — not just awareness, but what people consider right, normal, and worth defending.

When audiences already have knowledge, entertainment-education can focus on the harder work: attitudes, norms, and behaviors — moving people from understanding to action. Nepal’s government has implemented programs aimed at all three of the show’s core themes, and PMC’s role in that ecosystem is clear: creating the narrative conditions under which policy, services, and community effort can actually take hold.