It is estimated that 80 per cent of men will become fathers during their lifetimes, making clear the importance of, and opportunity for, engaging men and boys in care giving.
This study details the implementation and impact of MenCare – a global fatherhood and care giving campaign – in its engagement of men as involved, non-violent fathers for the advancement of gender equality in six Latin American countries – Brazil, Chile, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Uruguay. According to this study, fatherhood is a key entry point for discussions around household labour, childcare responsibilities, and gender equitable relationships. It can also serve as a gateway to involve men in other domains concerning gender equality. By analysing each country’s approach and implementation of the MenCare campaign, this study draws lessons learned from the best practices and innovations of each case in order to inform future programming on men’s caregiving in different contexts across the region and globally.
This study identifies as its key findings that:
- MenCare partners in Latin America have been implementing the MenCare campaign in their countries based on the concept and guidelines of the global campaign, but adapting and innovating based upon their own local context and dynamics
- many changes have been achieved during the implementation of MenCare campaigns in Latin America at both the individual level: (1) change in attitudes towards gender and fatherhood (2) openness to redefining manhood and fatherhood and (3) awareness of paternity leave as a right. And the institutional level: (1) quality of care in the health sector improved for men, including how the health sector views men and (2) advocacy at the national level to improve a national policy on men’s health and push for increased paternity leave. MenCare country representatives acknowledge that these changes cannot be directly attributable to the MenCare campaign alone, but rather consider MenCare as an element that positively contributes to a cumulative process of behavioural transformation towards greater gender equality
- this study observes that a comprehensive approach to involving fathers in care giving, based on research and evaluations, is key for successful programming and that future steps should (1) include women as participants (2) improve the evidence base on programming (3) anticipate resistance (even from obvious allies) (4) increase public awareness of the role of fathers in child development (5) use fathers’ involvement in care giving as an entry point to truly transform gender norms and dynamics within the home when planning programming strategies (6) ensure that gender transformation is being addressed, and that men are truly sharing care giving responsibilities and not just acting as helpers and (7) make use of a synchronised and comprehensive approaches in key sectors involving national and international governmental institutions