Health

Sexual and reproductive health and rights and HIV programmes are likely to have greater impact on communities if they address constructively the actual and potential role of men in society. At present, however, many such programmes often fail to target men, to address their specific needs and understand the wider influence of male and female gender norms.

This package, developed jointly by The ACQUIRE Project and Promundo, a Brazilian nongovernmental organization, can be used by individuals, organizations, and donors to carry out needs assessments to identify gaps in male engagement programming related to HIV and AIDS prevention, care, treatment, and support.

Designed for trainers of health workers, this manual offers skills-building sessions on developing more “male-friendly” health services. Utilizing participatory and experiential activities, the manual examines attitudinal and structural barriers that inhibit men from seeking HIV and AIDS services (both from the client and the provider perspectives), as well as strategies for overcoming such barriers. The manual is designed for all workers in a health care system: frontline staff, clinicians, and administrative, operational, and outreach workers.

Alston M (2010). Rural male suicide in Australia.

This paper examines young heterosexual men’s participation in unsafe sex. A qualitative study of young heterosexual Australian men’s understandings and practices of safe and unsafe sex, involving in-depth interviews conducted with 17 men aged between 18 and 26, found that five principal themes recur in young men’s accounts for the non-use of condoms.

While program experimentation targeting men has mushroomed in many parts of the world, operations research that examines the feasibility, acceptability, and impact of genderbased approaches has been limited. In response to this gap, the Horizons Program, together with partner organizations, is undertaking important programmatic research among young men in three countries. The research seeks to better understand the linkages between gender norms and HIV risk behaviors, and to determine whether the interventions that are developed using this information make a difference in the lives of young men and their partners. This issue of the Horizons Report describes emerging findings from studies in Brazil, Tanzania (page 7), and India (page 10).

AVSC International and the International Planned Parenthood Federation/Western Hemisphere Region were the co-sponsors of the Symposium on Male Participation in Sexual and Reproductive Health: New Paradigms. Both organizations agreed that it would be useful for participants to have a summary of studies and published research about gender equity and male participation in sexual and reproductive health in Latin America, with an annotated bibliography, as a preparatory document for the symposium. This study reflects the co-sponsors’ commitment to compiling and sharing current knowledge about men and their participation in the relatively new and constantly expanding field of sexual and reproductive health.

Men’s reproductive responsibilities received global attention at the International Conference on Population and Development (Cairo 1994) and at the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing 1995). It was during these two meetings that men and women throughout the world agreed to work to achieve the objective of sustainable development. They reaffirmed the connection between population and development and the understanding that gender equality, together with men’s participation in reproduction and paternity, are essential components for sustainable development.

This Implementation Guide illustrates examples of how to develop, implement, and evaluate reproductive health (RH) programs that involve men with a gender-sensitive perspective – that is, in ways that promote gender equity and improve health outcomes for men and women. These program examples were presented at the conference, Reaching Men to Improve Reproductive Health for All, held in Dulles, Virginia in September 2003.

EngenderHealth’s Men As Partners (MAP) program is a global initiative designed to work with men on reproductive health issues within a gender framework. This manual is designed to be used by PPASA MAP educators to lead workshops with groups of men and mixed-gender groups. The manual is intended for MAP master trainers: skilled individuals who would use it to train and supervise selected life skills educators to implement MAP activities with the public.