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June 2014
menengage post-2015 development agenda

MenEngage and the post-2015 development agenda

Since 2013, MenEngage has engaged in the global process of developing a Post-2015 Development Agenda, advocating for the inclusion of men and boys as partners and allies under a stand-alone gender equality and women’s empowerment (GEWE) goal.
 MATI

MenEngage Africa Training Initiative: the making of gender justice leaders

Since the end of last year, Sonke Gender Justice, MenEngage Africa, and the Women’s Health and Research Unit at the University of Cape Town have overseen the implementation of two highly successful MenEngage Africa Training Initiative (MATI) training courses in Cape Town, South Africa — one in September 2013 and one in February 2014.
whose-story-do-we-believe

Whose story do we believe, and to what end? LGBTI rights and sexual and reproductive health

Sadly, far too many people in Africa, as around the world, grow up being told stories similar to what Semugoma describes about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex (LGBTI) and gender non-conforming people, that are based on fear rather than truth, strung together with moralistic viewpoints and poorly articulated “culture”-based arguments that tell us that homosexuality is “unAfrican”.
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men-streaming-in-sexual-and-reproductive-health-and-hiv

All together now: advocating for the sexual and reproductive health and rights for all through a global initiative

As we make our way through 2014 and look ahead to the renewal and proclamation of global agendas, such as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), in 2015, there are opportunities everywhere to make clear our commitment to ensuring the sexual and reproductive health and rights for all people.
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bring back our girls

Kenyans march for Bring Back Our Girls

Kenyans took to the streets on 15 May to demand the return of the 300 Nigerian girls who were abducted three weeks prior when heavily armed attackers stormed the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Nigeria during the night of 14-15 April.
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MenEngage-Africa

Links between alcohol, GBV and masculinities under-researched

It is widely accepted that alcohol abuse is a risk factor for violence, including Gender-Based Violence (GBV). While much has been written about this link, the ways in which negative masculine gender norms influence alcohol abuse and GBV have been less explored. Sonke Gender Justice, on behalf of MenEngage Africa (MEA), therefore decided to conduct a literature review to explore these links further.
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liz

Kenyans demand justice for Liz

A campaign dubbed ‘Justice for Liz’ was initiated after an online petition started by Ms.Nebila Abdulmelik of African Women’s Communication Network (Femnet) and circulated by the international campaign network, Avaaz, attracted more than two million signatures from across the globe, demanding justice for the Standard Seven pupil who was beaten, gang-raped and dumped in a pit latrine on 26 June 2013, at Tingolo village in Busia County, Kenya. The matter was reported to Tingolo Administration Police Camp the following morning by villagers who also seized three of the suspects. The officers on duty recorded it as an assault and released the suspects after making them cut grass in the compound as punishment.
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men-in-the-kitchen

Men in the Kitchen: gender equality begins at home in Mozambique

Life in Mozambican communities is typically organized into physical and social spaces that are predominantly “male” or “female,” where constraining stereotypes for men and women are reinforced.. For that reason, participation by men in a number of household duties (i.e. cooking, cleaning, taking care of children) is minimized since the home is not traditionally considered a “male domain.” Common perceptions of the “masculinity” (or lack thereof ) of certain spaces or responsibilities have been the root of men’s individual cultural (self-)exclusion from an active participation in the home.