“Mission Possible”: Innovative ways to approach women for providing reproductive services &information in Southeast Asia, West &Central Africa

Description

While much of the research on social innovation in developing contexts focuses on the process and how it creates value, less is known about how social innovators navigate paradoxes between institutional and socio-cultural conditions to empower communities and drive change. This paper seeks to reshape understanding of social innovation processes by utilising the social-symbolic work theory to demonstrate how social innovation occurs at the intersection of international development agendas and local development needs. Drawing on a qualitative study of a programme that trains midwives/nurses to provide sexual and reproductive health in local communities, we argue that these actors, theorised as ‘social-symbolic social innovators’, overcome challenges to empower underprivileged women in West/Central Africa and Southeast Asia, to access services. Our findings highlight the crucial role of ‘boundary spanners’ and ‘social innovators’ in overcoming institutional paradox and co-creating social-symbolic work through their shared identity, agency and goals.

Period	28 May 2025
Event title	Advancing Sustainability and Social Innovation: Perspectives from Leading UK Experts
Event type	Seminar
Location	MalaysiaShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International