A steering group for the European chapter of MenEngage has been established.
The global alliance of NGOs and UN agencies that seeks to engage boys and men to achieve gender equality attracted over 70 participants to its consultation meeting in Stockholm last month. EMHF CEO Erick Savoye gave a well-received presentation about men’s health in Europe and the work of the EMHF.
‘It was a very useful meeting for European men in general and the EMHF in particular,’ said Erick. ‘It highlighted some strong synergies with our work around the understanding the impact of masculinities on men’s attitudes and behaviours while the interaction of health and well-being with men’s ability to engage in gender equality was also clearly noted. It generated many new contacts for us, particularly in central and Eastern Europe.’
The meeting set up a steering group for the European chapter of MenEngage and sub-regional working groups which, all parties hope, will work closely with the EMHF.
The MenEngage alliance came together in 2004 with the general goal of working in partnership to promote the engagement of men and boys in achieving gender equality, promoting health and reducing violence at the global level, including questioning the structural barriers to achieving gender equality.
Members include more than 400 NGOs from Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, North America, and Asia under an international steering committee including the International Planned Parenthood Federation, the Family Violence Prevention Fund, the International Center for Research on Women, WHO, UNFPA, UNDP, the Sonke Gender Justice Project, Save the Children-Sweden, Sahoyog, the White Ribbon Campaign and Men’s Resources International led by co-chairs Promundo and EngenderHealth.
