This proposed study will assess how COVID-19 and the associated 'stay at home' orders are affecting low-income Rwandan couples' relationships and family dynamics. The study builds on an existing randomized controlled trial of the Bandebereho fathers/couples intervention (NCT02694627), which will allow us to assess not only the current conditions in households, but also whether or how the significant impacts of the intervention are sustained under extreme stress.

This proposed study will assess how COVID-19 and the associated 'stay at home' orders are affecting low-income Rwandan couples' relationships and family dynamics. It will contribute to documenting whether and how this disruptive moment might be changing or influencing relationship dynamics, conflict, and the distribution of care-work. We will build on an existing randomized controlled trial of the Bandebereho fathers/couples intervention, which will allow us to assess not only the current conditions in households, but also whether or how the significant impacts of the intervention are sustained under extreme stress. The Bandebereho fathers/couples intervention was implemented by the Rwanda Men's Resource Center (RWAMREC) and Promundo-US, in collaboration with the Rwanda Ministry of Health and local authorities in Karongi, Musanze, Nyaruguru and Rwamagana districts from 2013-2015. Results from a randomized controlled study of Bandebereho, a gender transformative intervention for expectant couples originally implemented in 4 districts in 2015, showed positive results across multiple outcomes after 21 months.

Original inclusion criteria in the original RCT study included, for men: being between the ages of 21-35, expecting a child or having one or more children under the age of five, living in a stable partnership, and residing in the study site. For women, the criteria were simply being the partner of one of the men selected for the study.

Inclusion criteria for this study include previous participation in the RCT, and that the respondent indicated they or their partner owned a telephone/phone in the 21-month follow up that was conducted in November/December 2016. Based on data from the 21-month followup, approximately 80% of respondents reported a cell phone owned by them or their partner.