For a long time gender equality has been seen as the sole responsibility of women.
There is now increasing recognition, as reflected in international agreements*, that engaging men and boys in sexual and reproductive health is central to building more equitable societies.
It is also essential to engage men and boys in order to promote sexual and reproductive health and rights, and prevent HIV and AIDS, unsafe abortion and gender-based violence.
By leaving men and boys out of the gender equation we may fail to effectively challenge the systems and processes that often control and limit women’s SRH behaviour and restrict their access to services.
Moreover, engaging men and boys is essential to improving their own health, as well as the health outcomes of women and children.
IPPF has been undertaking pioneering work on engaging men and boys for many years, reflecting the organisations commitment to:
• identify and address men and boy’s own sexual and reproductive health needs, and
• ensure that men and boys fully understand and promote gender equity and the sexual and reproductive health and rights of other men, women and young people.
This commitment applies to males of all sexual orientations, including those who have sex with other men (homosexual, bisexual and transgender) and regardless of HIV/sexually transmitted infection status, age, disability, race or religion.
It is reflected both in our Strategic Framework, and plays an essential role in the successful implementation of IPPF 5 A’s.
IPPF Men and Gender Equality Research Project
IPPF has recently completed a DFID funded research project to strengthen the global evidence base on effective programming and interventions to address men’s SRHR, and better engage them in achieving gender equality.
The project also sought to broaden and scale-up this work through engaging with policy makers, to support the inclusion of men and boys within existing national policies and frameworks.
This project has provided wide-ranging lessons learned and good practice when working with men and boys on sexuality, SRHR and HIV/AIDS, violence and relationships.
The project has produced the following key results:
1. A research report entitled ‘Men are Changing’, which provides case studies examining the impact of promising programmes and interventions working with men and boys, as well as future recommendations.
2. Research tools on men as partners and male SRH, including focus group discussion guides, and structured questionnaires for males and females and service providers.
3. Reports of regional research findings in Africa and South Asia on men as partners, and corresponding action plans based on the research recommendations to enable these regions to better address this issue.
4. A ‘men-streaming’ gender in SRH toolkit: a guide for Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and governments to support the review and updating of existing policies to ensure they fully engage men and boys in SRHR and HIV/AIDS.
This work was undertaken in collaboration with our partners within the Global MenEngage alliance.
This alliance brings together international organizations seeking to strengthen the engagement of men and boys.
For more information, visit www.menengage.org
*The ICPD Program of Action, the Beijing Platform of Action, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the 48th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).