Health
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.
Boys in the Picture (2000) is an advocacy document that stresses the importance of including boys in programming for adolescent sexual and reproductive health. This 32-page overview is in four languages. As it concludes, "Making a case for increasing attention to the health, development and wellbeing of adolescent boys and young men is necessary and timely. Increasing the attention to boys is a matter of gender equity and benefits accrue not only to adolescent boys and young men, but also to adolescent girls, women, children, men and communities."