Engaging men and boys towards gender equality

A National Conversation on “Working with Men & Boys” was co-hosted by PRIA and Equal Community Foundation (ECF) on 22 February, 2018 at PRIA Head Office. The conversation was held to stimulate discourse, exchange knowledge, explore opportunities, strategize actions and enrich possibilities to engage boys and men towards gender equality. 

The conversation saw the participation of 10 social sector organisations such as Aga Khan Foundation, Azad Foundation, Breakthrough, Martha Farrell Foundation, Prerana, Shakti Shalini and ECF, who are working across India on the possibility of engaging boys and men in their work on gender equality.

The session began with a presentation by Nandita Bhatt, Senior Program Manager at PRIA, on PRIA’s approaches to working with boys and men in all its programmes. This was followed by a discussion on the findings of the research done by ECF on the barriers and opportunities to engage boys and men towards gender equality.

Participants identified the need for a collaborative that provides formal support to their organisations on fundraising capacity, team capacity, programme materials and M&E tools. Stimulating discussion was held around the actions and processes that need to be followed while conducting research on similar issues. Participants also suggested ideas for developing capacities to work with boys and men towards gender equality.