Eastern Europe & Central Asia MenEngage Platform

The Eastern Europe & Central Asia MenEngage Platform provides a collective voice for the region on the need to challenge harmful gender norms and to advocate for gender-transformative policies at all levels.

Engaging men and boys alongside women and girls is an essential element of this work. With strong partnerships and collaboration at its heart, the platform brings together key organizations, institutions and individuals to support efforts to scale up gender-transformative programming and work with women’s rights, feminist and social-justice groups and movements in the region.

This community is initiated by the UNFPA Regional Office in collaboration with MenEngage Alliance, Promundo-US and UNFPA Country Offices across the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region. It is open to non-governmental and civil-society organizations, state institutions, experts, government representatives, academics and UN partners.

Join us as we collectively engage men and boys in the pursuit of gender justice.

OUR PARTNERS

Our Goals

1

Disseminate and exchange information on engaging men and boys in gender-transformative programming in the region and beyond.

2

Broaden the network and field of actors in the region who work with men and boys on gender-transformative approaches.

3

Collectively initiate joint advocacy, campaigns, initiatives and actions on key issues in the region, amplifying voices for gender justice while collaborating with existing women’s rights and social-justice movements and groups.

4

Provide opportunities for capacity-building, such as through webinars and invitations to training events and conferences.

What we stand for

Sharing responsibility for achieving gender equality. We believe that both men and women should be engaged in achieving gender equality and in advancing the rights, health and well-being of women and girls.
Challenging male violence against women. We are dedicated to engaging men and boys to end violence against women and to questioning or challenging violent versions of manhood.
Promoting existing UN mandates. We are dedicated to engaging men and boys to fulfill the mandates, statements of action and principles of the International Conference on Population and Development, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the Commission on the Status of Women statements (48th session) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and to working collectively to encourage governments to do the same.
Engaging men as caregivers. We are dedicated to the promotion of more equitable participation by men and boys in caregiving, the care of children and domestic tasks.
Working as allies with existing women’s rights organizations. We are committed to working as allies with women and with women’s rights organizations to achieve equality for women and girls.
Respecting sexual diversity and sexual rights. We are dedicated to promoting cultures of masculinity that respect sexual diversity and the sexual and reproductive rights of all, and that engage boys and men so that concerns about reproductive health and contraception are more evenly shared between men and women.
Acknowledging the vulnerabilities of men. We believe that the specific needs and experiences of men and boys have often not been well understood nor taken into account in the development of public policy or professional practice across a wide range of areas. We believe that men and boys are made vulnerable by non-equitable and violent versions of manhood.
Engaging men from a positive perspective. We believe that all people would benefit from recognition of these issues and from appropriate action to transform non-equitable and violent versions of manhood and redress power inequalities related to gender. We seek to build examples of men already acting in more gender-equitable and non-violent ways.
Ensuring broad participation. We will strive to include and take into account the voices of men and women, boys and girls, at the community level, and the voices of community-level NGOs.
Non-discrimination. We will actively advocate against, question and seek to overcome sexism, social exclusion, homophobia, racism or any form of discriminatory behavior against women or gay/bisexual/transgender men and women, or discrimination on any other basis.
Transparency. We will be transparent, honest, fair and ethical in all of our actions, including making public our sources of funding and annual budget.
Collaboration. We seek to work in collaboration, with open dialogue about institutional differences and achieving consensus whenever possible.
Utilizing evidence-based approaches. We seek to build on evidence-based approaches to engaging men and boys.
Centering a human rights perspective and life cycle approach. We recognize the need to apply a human rights perspective in all our activities and to take into account a life cycle and ecological approach that incorporates both the individual as well as the broader social and structural contexts that shape gender inequalities.

Partnering for Change

The Eastern Europe & Central Asia MenEngage Platform brings together diverse partner organizations and thought leaders across the region who are committed to taking an active role in promoting gender justice. The platform is open to non-governmental organizations and civil-society organizations, state institutions, experts, government representatives, academics and UN partners.

Join us