Webinar recap
On June 11, 2024, the Interagency Gender Working Group’s Male Engagement Task Force (METF) presented the webinar Building Bridges: Promising Strategies to Improve the Health of Boys and Men by Promoting Social Connection and Support. METF co-chair Dominick Shattuck (Breakthrough ACTION, Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs) opened the webinar with an overview of the latest METF knowledge product, Building Bridges: Promising Strategies for Improving the Health of Boys and Men by Promoting Social Connection and Support, and highlighted the three elements of effective and promising strategies to engage men and boys along with programmatic recommendations to improve their health outcomes through social connection.
Jarrod Hindman, from Sources of Strength, then presented the Source of Strength Model. This model parallels other suicide prevention models intended for primary and secondary school students by being peer-led, strength-focused, and trauma-informed. It encourages participants to have hope, seek help, and find strength.
Next, Leila Milani from Futures without Violence in Tanzania focused on Coaching Boys into Men by using male adult role models for boys ages 9–14 and ensuring community buy-in to dismantle traditional gender norms and social pressures boys often experience in their pre-to-early teen years.
Following the presentations, METF co-chair Julie Pulerwitz (Population Council and George Washington University) facilitated a panel discussion with all three presenters. Webinar attendees participated in small group discussions facilitated by METF co-chairs to discuss what is being done and what can be done in low- and middle-income countries to promote and encourage social connection and support high-quality friendships among men and boys across life stages.
Some key takeaways from the small group discussions include:
- To understand social connection in context, we have to learn what it means to each group of interest.
- Having health programs that focus on men’s and boy’s well-being can and will positively improve the health of communities.
- Getting community and family buy-in to interventions to provide support to young men and boys seeking to shift social and gender norms.
EXPLORE ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Click on the links below to access the recordings and slides from the webinar and other related resources.
Webinar recording English
Webinar recording French
Other resources:
- Building Bridges: Promising Strategies to Improve the Health of Boys and Men by Promoting Social Connection and Support (English, French)
- Sources of Strength
- CDC VetoViolence Connecting the Dots
- Futures Without Violence
- Coaching Boys Into Men
