The Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare is conducting district dissemination on National Male Engagement Strategy for men and and boys as agents of change towards gender equality.
The Ministry recognizes that male engagement is a critical area of intervention for Malawi to achieve gender equality, protect women and girls from violence, prevent HIV and improve Sexual Reproductive Health ( SRH).
The National Male Engagement Strategy ( 2023 – 2030) is a tool that guides and standardizes the planning, implementation, coordination and monitoring of programmes for engaging men and boys as agents of change towards gender equality and it is being implemented in collaboration with key Government ministries, NGOs, private sector, and Faith Based Organizations, among others.
Presenting the Strategy to the Dowa District Council, the Ministry’s Principal Gender and Development Officer Japhet Chirwa, said the Strategy has been developed to provide direction and guidance to the implementation of interventions that would enhance male participation in gender equality, GBV, HIV and SRHR towards a Malawi that is gender equitable, healthy, free of Gender Based Violence, HIV and AIDS.300 thousand male Voluntarily Received circumcision
Chirwa said the Male Engagement Strategy aims at promoting effective male involvement in ending Gender Based Violence, reducing HIV and participating in Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), including HIV treatment and care.
“The Strategy will use Gender transformative, integrated and multi – sectoral, participatory and community – led, Human Rights, peer – to – peer, leadership mobilization, and intergenerational approaches in the course of implementation to reach out to many men and boys,” said Chirwa.
He said the Strategy has been disseminated to 23 District Councils targeting Gender Technical Working Groups (TWGs) and District Executive Committees (DEC).
Chirwa said Community – based approaches are critical for influencing attitudes and behaviors among men and boys, and integrating male engagement activities in existing programmes is key to effective implementation.
In his remarks, Dowa District Council’s Director of Planning and Development Phillimon Maseko, thanked the Ministry of Gender for finding resources to disseminate the Male Engagement Strategy to the council appealing to it to spare some resources for the Strategy to go down to the communities.Over 300, 000 men access Voluntary Medical Circumcision in Lilongwe
Maseko assured the Ministry that the council and Civil Society organizations ( CSO) partners will support the implementation of the Strategy and ensure they leave no one behind.
The dissemination was conducted in collaboration with the National AIDS Commission (NAC), with financial support from Global Fund.
