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DO’s and DON’Ts for Engaging Men and Boys in Health: A Learning and Exchange Session on How to Apply Relevant Tools and Frameworks

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The Interagency Gender Working Group’s Male Engagement Task Force (METF) is pleased to invite you to a learning and exchange session about best practices for engaging men and boys across different health areas. This event will showcase best practices for male engagement and include an overview of tools and frameworks relevant for the health sector such as the METF-developed DO’s and DON’Ts for Engaging Men and Boys. Interactive breakout sessions will allow participants to apply the DO’s and DON’Ts to case studies of health programs that have engaged men and boys—both what they did well and what could have been done differently. Participants will also have the opportunity to engage in information exchange and problem solving regarding their own work engaging men and boys.

By the end of the session, participants will be able to:

  • Identify tools and frameworks to guide the design and implementation of male engagement efforts, particularly the DO’s and DON’Ts for Engaging Men and Boys.
  • Describe what to do and not to do when engaging men and boys in health promotion and gender equity.
  • Apply the DO’s and DON’Ts to case studies of health programs, with a focus on family planning/reproductive health; HIV and AIDS; maternal, newborn, and child health; and gender-based violence.

Positive Youth Development in Health Programming: How Does Engaging Boys and Young Men Fit In? A Technical Marketplace

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On September 13, 2022, the Interagency Gender Working Group’s Male Engagement Task Force (METF) hosted the webinar “Positive Youth Development in Health Programming: How Does Engaging Boys and Young Men Fit In? A Technical Marketplace.” More than 100 participants from around the world—including Eswatini, Ethiopia, India, and Nigeria—participated in discussions on how gender transformative positive youth development (PYD) contributes to positive health behaviors related to family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH); HIV/AIDS; gender-based violence; maternal, newborn, and child health; and infectious disease prevention and treatment.

PYD is gaining traction as both a philosophy and a programmatic approach that can support healthy, productive, and engaged youth as they grow into adulthood. To empower youth to reach their full potential, PYD approaches support building skills, assets, and competencies; fostering healthy relationships; strengthening the environment; and transforming systems. By integrating gender transformative approaches, PYD can maximize its effects on youth empowerment, FP/RH outcomes, and gender equality, particularly when applied in early cognitive and relationship development stages for adolescent boys and young men (ABYM).

The webinar opened with two keynote addresses:

  • Michael Reichert, applied and research child psychologist and author of How to Raise a Boy: The Power of Connection to Build Good Mengave an opening keynote address, “The Promise of Human Development in Boys’ Lives”. His presentation emphasized that boys are naturally wired to connect with others, and that relationships are the medium through which successful teaching and learning is performed with boys. The prominent models for boyhood, however, do not nurture these connections.
  • Amy Uccello, senior youth and family planning technical adviser at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), provided an overview of USAID’s recently launched Youth in Development Policy, including its PYD framework. The framework recognizes youth’s inherent rights and results in youth who have assets, the agency to leverage those assets, and the ability to contribute to positive change for themselves and their communities, supported by an enabling environment. In each of these domains, meaningfully engaging adolescent boys and young men is essential.

Two panels with presenters from across the globe shared recent research or programming around PYD for adolescent boys and young men. Presentations explored how ABYM can benefit from the PYD approach through: access, including access to high-quality information, safe services, and livelihood opportunities to build the skills they need to lead healthy, productive, and engaged lives; participation, including full participation as key partners in decision-making to contribute to individual, household, community, and national well-being; and systems, including collective voice in local and national systems to achieve more coordinated and effective services, practices, and policies that embody the principles of positive youth development.    

Panel 1: Engaging Young Men for Positive Youth Development in Health Programming

  • “Leveraging Partnerships With Men and Boys for Optimum Health Outcomes for All,” Ajita Vidyarthi and Mohammed Ibrahim, Plan International Canada.
  • “Modalities for Change: How Youth Are Engaging Boys and Men in Youth-Led Social Accountability Work in Ghana,” Douri Bennin Hajei, Youth Advocacy on Rights and Opportunities (YARO).
  • “An Innovative Approach to HIV Prevention Through Engaging Boys and Young Men in Eswatini,” Mary Mhazo and Gift Dlamini, Kwakha Indvodza: Litfuba Ngelakho (The Chance is Yours).
  • “Promoting Adolescent Boys’ Engagement with Sexual and Reproductive Health, Agency, and Gender Synchronicity Through Gaming,” Kavita Ayyagari, Howard Delafield International LLP.

Panel 2: Engaging Boys for Positive Youth Development in Health Programming

  • “Boys’ Engagement in Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) in Rural Parts of Ethiopia,” Masresha Soressa, Pathfinder International.
  • “Sibling Support for Adolescent Girls in Emergencies (SSAGE): Findings From a Brother-Sister Centered, Family-Based Model to Address Violence Against Girls in Humanitarian Settings,” Monica Giuffrida, Women’s Refugee Commission.
  • “Engaging Adolescent Boys to Promote Reproductive Health and Prevent Gender-Based Violence in Nigeria: The SKILLZ Guyz Approach,” Usen Asanga, Youth Development and Empowerment Initiative.

Participants discussed key takeaways from the presentations, shared relevant examples from their own work, and identified critical next steps for research and programming. Key takeaways included:

  • The importance of a family-centered approach/multiple influencer involvement/multilevel programming (for example, bringing parents and ABYM together to meet ABYM needs and involving peers, parents, and institutions).
  • The importance of early intervention with ABYM (ages 10-14) to shift gender attitudes and norms.    
  • The importance of local adaptation/local-level planning to enhance program effectiveness.
  • The need for accountability to engage youth in program design as early as possible.
  • Youth-led programming is a priority with unique challenges and opportunities. For example, it may require one to two years to build youth agency and capacity and to advance an enabling environment.
  • of implemented interventions (for example, more restrictions on girls’ autonomy to prevent potential violence).   
  • The need to apply both quantitative and qualitative methods to measure gender transformative outcomes, including relations between girls and boys and men and women.

Event Recording:

EXPLORE ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Click the links below to access slides from the webinar and other related resources.

Webinar Slides

Related Resources:

Want to Know More about IGWG’s Male Engagement Task Force?

The Male Engagement Task Force (METF) is an information, advocacy, and knowledge exchange network that examines what it means to engage men and boys in health promotion and gender equality. The METF aims to explore why we should engage men and boys, what are the benefits, how to do it, what works and doesn’t work, and what modalities of health services can better reach and include men and boys while addressing gender dynamics that act as barriers to health. Health areas of focus include family planning; sexual and reproductive health; maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health; nutrition; HIV/AIDS; and prevention and treatment of infectious diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis. The METF considers relevant social and behavior change, service delivery, research, and policy efforts to improve outcomes across these health areas. For more information, click here.

Rethinking Men’s and Boys’ Healthcare Access and Use

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On March 17, 2022, the Interagency Gender Working Group’s Male Engagement Task Force (METF) hosted the webinar “Rethinking Men’s and Boys’ Healthcare Access and Use.”

The ability and willingness of men and boys to access health information, services, and products is influenced by wide-ranging factors, including social and gender norms and health system infrastructure. In this webinar, speakers showcased insights and learnings from global research and programming that supports men and boys in help-seeking behaviors and healthcare access and use across health areas, including family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH); HIV/AIDS; and maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH). Speakers also highlighted how to address gender and power dynamics and other social and structural factors that influence men’s and boys’ access and use. More than 190 attendees learned about best, promising, and emerging practices to facilitate and support men and boys as they seek and receive healthcare, and how to apply these practices to their own work. Featured presentations highlighted work happening globally and specifically in Brazil, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, and Nigeria.

Event recording in English:

Event recording in French:

Marcos Nascimento (Oswaldo Cruz Foundation) delivered opening remarks that provided global framing around how men’s health has been introduced and addressed over time and shared his experience with policy development and implementation in Brazil.

METF co-chairs Julie Pulerwitz (Population Council, Breakthrough RESEARCH) and Dominick Shattuck (Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs, Breakthrough ACTION) moderated the panels, detailed below:

Panel 1: Major developments and newest thinking around men’s and boys’ healthcare access and use (including programming elements that seek to shift gender norms and address power dynamics that hinder help-seeking)

  • Kathryn Dovel, University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and Partners in Hope-Malawi (PIH)
  • Stella Abah, WI-HER
  • Neeta Bhandari, U.S. Department of State, Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator/U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)

Panelists described their programmatic activities and answered questions that included:

  • If you had to prioritize, what are the top two or three overlooked barriers to men’s and boys’ healthcare use? How can we best overcome them?
  • How salient are the issues of gender norms and power relations for your programming? What recommendations do you have for the field in taking both into account?
  • Where do you think the field is going regarding men’s and boys’ healthcare access and use? What will it take to scale up effective practices and lessons learned at this point? 

Panel 2: Emerging innovations and practices for meeting men’s and boys’ needs and priorities around healthcare access and use

  • Ehi Adejo-Ogiri, Jhpiego
  • Charlotte Pahe, Population Services Kenya
  • Vitumbiko Namondwe and MacBain Mkandawire, Youth Net and Counselling (YONECO)
  • Dorcas Manortey, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Ghana

Panelists described their programmatic activities and answered questions that included:

  • In what ways were masculine norms considered within the design of your programmatic approaches?
  • Anonymity was mentioned by several programs. How was privacy and anonymity articulated to the beneficiaries of your program? How important was privacy for men?

EXPLORE ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Click on the links below to access the slides from the webinar and other related resources.

Webinar Slides

Do’s & Don’ts for Engaging Men and Boys (English, French, Portuguese, Spanish)

Brazil’s National Healthcare Policy for Men (PNAISH)

Getting to Equal: Men, Gender Equality, and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights

Know, Care, Do: A Theory of Change for Engaging Men and Boys in Family Planning (English, French, Spanish)

Reflection and Action Tool: Integrating a Life Course Approach in Programming with Boys & Men for Gender Equality (English, French, Spanish)

Guide for Promoting Sexual and Reproductive Health Products and Services for Men

2021 State of the Art in Engaging Men and Boys in Health and Development: A Technical Marketplace

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In September 2021, the Interagency Gender Working Group’s Male Engagement Task Force (METF) hosted the webinar, “2021 State of the Art in Engaging Men and Boys in Health and Development: A Technical Marketplace.”

Engaging men and boys is critical for promoting gender equality and improving global health outcomes. Both new and recurring challenges and opportunities require that we continue to emphasize men and boys as key actors. This webinar showcased 11 examples of cutting-edge programming and research for engaging a broader diversity of men and boys as clients, partners, and agents of change across global health initiatives and programs. Presentations focused on diverse health areas, including sexual and reproductive health; maternal, newborn, and child health; HIV/AIDS; and gender-based violence. In doing so, they underscored the key role of gender and other social norms in shaping health behaviors and outcomes and the need to engage and shift these norms across individuals, communities, systems, and structures in ways that are culturally relevant and contextually appropriate. Featured presentations highlighted work happening across the globe and in these countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo, India, Kenya, Mexico, Nepal, South Africa, Thailand, and Uganda.

METF co-chairs Myra Betron (Jhpiego) and Julie Pulerwitz (Population Council) moderated the webinar, which featured the following presentations:

  • Men as Clients
    • Coach Mphilo Program in South Africa (Shawn Malone, Population Services International)
    • Male Contraceptive Research and Development Activities Snapshot (Heather Vahdat, Male Contraceptive Initiative)
    • iDARE Methodology (Taroub Harb Faramand, WI-HER)
  • Men as Partners
    • Broadening Accountability of Men Campaign in India (Manoj Pal, EngenderHealth)
    • Parenting for Respectability Project in Uganda (Godfrey E. Siu , Makerere University)
    • Advocacy for Male Engagement in Family Planning in Nepal (Erin DeGraw, Health Policy Plus [HP+], Plan International)
  • Men as Agents of Change
    • Secure Futures Program in Kenya (Enouce Ndeche, Vijana Amani Pamoja)
    • Dads and Daughters Project in Kenya (Elias Muindi, Kenya MenEngage Alliance)
    • Engaging Men in Accountable Practice (EMAP) Project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Jean De Dieu Hategekimana, International Rescue Committee)
  • Diversity of Men
    • Transgender Outreach and Engagement through the EpiC and LINKAGES Projects in Thailand (Robyn Dayton, FHI 360)
    • Critical Health and Social Services for Men Have Sex with Men in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Kashindi Shabani, Savie Asbl NGO LGBT PGEL)

EXPLORE ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Click on the links below to access the slides from the webinar and other related resources.

Webinar Slides

Do’s and Don’ts for Engaging Men and Boys
(English, French, Portuguese, Spanish)

Coach Mphilo Program–South Africa

Male Contraception and the Sustainable Development Goals

WI-HER iDARE Methodology
*Identify, Design, Apply/Assess, Record, Expand

Parenting for Respectability (PfR) Program–Uganda 

Health Policy Plus (HP+) Male Engagement in Family Planning: Understanding Global Policy Barriers and Enablers

Kenya MenEngage Alliance (KEMEA)

Men and Boys’ Mental Health: Emerging Evidence and Innovative Approaches

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The Interagency Gender Working Group’s Male Engagement Task Force recently hosted “Men and Boys’ Mental Health: Emerging Evidence and Innovative Approaches.” This webinar showcased research and programming for better understanding and addressing of the mental health experiences and needs of men and boys across diverse contexts (in Colombia, Eswatini, Malawi, South Africa, and Tanzania). It also demonstrated how men’s mental health intersects with other health outcomes related to family planning, maternal and child health, and HIV/AIDS.

Dominick Shattuck, director of Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning at Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs (Breakthrough ACTION), moderated the webinar, which featured the following presentations:

EXPLORE ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Use the links below to access the PowerPoint slides from the webinar and other related resources.

Webinar slides

Population Council DREAMS partnership implementation science portfolio

Men. Men. Men The Podcast

Calm Line resources

IGWG’s Do’s and Don’ts for Engaging Men and Boys (English, French, Portuguese, Spanish)

Mental Health Innovation Network (MHIN)

Male Engagement Task Force Resources

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The IGWG’s Male Engagement Task Force has created a curated list of key resources related to 1) Men, Masculinities, and Health, 2) HIV/AIDS, 3) Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health, and 4) Family Planning and Reproductive Health.

Men, Masculinities, and Health

Gender-transformative programming with men and boys to improve sexual and reproductive health and rights: a systematic review of intervention studies 
Eimear Ruane-McAteer, Kathryn Gillespie, Avni Amin, Áine Aventin, Martin Robinson, Jennifer Hanratty, Rajat Khosla, Maria Lohan
“BMJ Global Health, Volume 5, Issue 10”
2020
Understanding the Male Life Course: Opportunities for Gender Transformation
Institute for Reproductive Health (IRH), Georgetown University
2020
Do’s and Don’ts for Engaging Men and Boys 
Julie Pulerwitz, Ann Gottert, Myra Betron, Dominick Shattuck
Interagency Gender Working Group (IGWG)
2019
Getting to Equal: Men, Gender Equality, and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
Margaret Greene, Blair Berger, Lilit Hakobyan, Ellen Stiefvater, Ruti Levtov
Promundo-US
2019
Interventions addressing men, masculinities and gender equality in sexual and reproductive health and rights: an evidence and gap map and systematic review of reviews
Eimear Ruane-McAteer, Avni Amin, Jennifer Hanratty, Fiona Lynn, Kyrsten Corbijn van Willenswaard, Esther Reid, Rajat Khosla, Maria Lohan
“BMJ Global Health, Volume 4, Issue 5”
2019
Masculine Norms and Men’s Health: Making the Connections
Cody Ragonese, Tim Shand, Gary Barker
Promundo-US
2019
Gender-transformative Bandebereho couples’ intervention to promote male engagement in reproductive and maternal health and violence prevention in Rwanda: Findings from a randomized controlled trial
Kate Doyle, Ruti G Levtov, Gary Barker, Gautam G Bastian, Jeffrey B Bingenheimer, Shamsi Kazimbaya, Anicet Nzabonimpa, Julie Pulerwitz, Felix Sayinzoga, Vandana Sharma, Dominick Shattuck
PLoS One, Volume 13, Issue 4: e0192756
2018
Men’s health: time for a new approach to policy and practice?
Peter Baker, Tim Shand
Journal of Global Health (J Glob Health), Volume 7, Issue 1: 010306
2018
Couples Counseling in Reproductive Health: A Review of the Literature
Esther Spindler, Elizabeth Salazar, Dominick Shattuck Couples
Institute for Reproductive Health (IRH), Georgetown University
2017
Guide for Promoting Sexual and Reproductive Health Products and Services for Men
Health Communication Capacity Collaborative (HC3)
Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs (CCP)
2017
Masculine Norms and Men’s Health: Making the Connections – Executive Summary
Brian Heilman, Gary Barker, Alexander Harrison
Promundo-US, Unilever
2017
The Man Box: A Study on Being a Young Man in the US, UK, and Mexico
Brian Heilman, Gary Barker, Alexander Harrison
Promundo-US, Unilever
2017
Adolescent Boys and Young Men: Engaging Them as Supporters of Gender Equality and Health and Understanding their Vulnerabilities
Jane Kato-Wallace, Gary Barker, Leyla Sharafi, Luis Mora, Giovanna Lauro
Promundo-US, UNFPA
2016

Family Planning and Reproductive Health

Advancing Male Engagement in Family Planning and Reproductive Health: An Advocacy Tool
Breakthrough ACTION
Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs (CCP)
2018
Engaging Boys and Men in Contraception Use and Family Planning: A Slide Deck
Jessica Kali
Population Reference Bureau (PRB)
2018
Engaging Men and Boys in Family Planning: A Strategic Planning Guide 
Afeefa Abdur-Rahman, Michal Avni, Karen Hardee, Joan Kraft, Rebecka Lundgen, Erin Mielke, Tim John Shand, Dominic Shattuck, Caitlin Thistle, Shegufta Shefa Sikder
Family Planning High Impacts Practices (HIPs)
2018
Essential Considerations for Engaging Men and Boys for Improved Family Planning Outcomes
USAID
2018
Engaging Men in Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, Including Family Planning
UNFPA, EngenderHealth
2017
A Review of 10 Years of Vasectomy Programming and Research in Low-Resource Settings
Dominick Shattuck, Brian Perry, Catherine Packer, Dawn Chin Quee
Global Health: Science and Practice (Glob Health Sci Pract), Volume 4, Issue 4: 647–660
2016
Men as Contraceptive Users: Programs, Outcomes and Recommendations
Karen Hardee, Melanie Croce-Galis, Jill Gay
Population Council, The Evidence Project
2016
Male Engagement in Reproductive Health Programs – MEASURE Evaluation’s Family Planning and Reproductive Health Indicators Database
MEASURE Evaluation
Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition

Mixed-Methods Systematic Review of Behavioral Interventions in Low- and Middle-Income Countries to Increase Family Support for Maternal, Infant, and Young Child Nutrition during the First 1000 Days
Stephanie L Martin, Juliet K McCann, Emily Gascoigne, Diana Allotey, Dadirai Fundira, Katherine L Dickin
Current Developments in Nutrition, Volume 4, Issue 6: nzaa085
2020
Involving men to improve maternal and newborn health: A systematic review of the effectiveness of interventions
Mariam Tokhi, Liz Comrie-Thomson, Jessica Davis, Anayda Portela, Matthew Chersich, Stanley Luchters
PLoS One, Volume 13, Issue 1: e0191620
2018
Engaging men to promote and support exclusive breastfeeding: a descriptive review of 28 projects in 20 low- and middle-income countries from 2003 to 2013
Jennifer M Yourkavitch , Jeniece L Alvey , Debra M Prosnitz, James C Thomas
Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition (J Health Popul Nutr) Volume 36, Issue 1: 43
2017
Challenging gender inequity through male involvement in maternal and newborn health: critical assessment of an emerging evidence base
Liz Comrie-Thomson, Mariam Tokhi, Frances Ampt, Anayda Portela, Matthew Chersich, Renu Khanna, Stanley Luchters
Culture, Health & Sexuality (Cult Health Sex), Volume 17, Issue Sup2: 177–189
2015

HIV and AIDS

Addressing Uptake of HIV Testing and Linkage to Care Among Men in Côte d’Ivoire: An Evaluation of the Brothers for Life Program Implementation
Danielle A Naugle, Abdul Dosso, Natalie J Tibbels, Lynn M Van Lith, Zoé M Hendrickson, Anne M Kouadio, Walter Kra, Diarra Kamara, Patricia Dailly-Ajavon, Adama Cissé, Kim Seifert-Ahanda, Sereen Thaddeus, Elizabeth C Mallalieu, Michelle R Kaufman, Christopher J Hoffmann
Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes (JAIDS), Volume 84, Issue 5: 480–487
2020
Evidence around Engaging Men in HIV Prevention and Treatment. Presentation at UNAIDS webinar, 15 April 2020.
Julie Pulerwitz, Ann Gottert, Jerry Okal, Sanyukta Mathur
Population Council
2020
Shifting the narrative: from “the missing men” to “we are missing the men”
Anna Grimsrud, Wole Ameyan, James Ayieko, Tanya Shewchuk
Journal of the International AIDS Society (JIAS), Volume 23, Issue S2: e2556
2020
Special Issue – Men & HIV: Insights from Sub‐Saharan Africa
Guest Editors: Wole Ameyan, James Ayieko, Anna Grimsrud, Tanya Shewchuk
Journal of the International AIDS Society (JIAS), Volume 23, Issue S2
2020
Strategies for Engaging Men in HIV Services 
Christopher J Colvin
The Lancet, Volume 6, Issue 3: e191–e200
2019
Gender-Transformative Interventions to Reduce HIV Risks and Violence with Heterosexually-Active Men: A Review of the Global Evidence
Shari L Dworkin, Sarah Treves-Kagan, Sheri A Lippman
AIDS and Behavior, Volume 17, Issue 9: 2845–2863
2013
Men and HIV Clearing House
UNAIDS, Sonke Gender Justice, Promundo