Strengthening CSO-Government Partnerships to Scale Up Approaches to Engaging Men and Boys for Gender Equality and SRHR: A Tool for Action

This tool provides guidance on good partnership practices that can facilitate productive conversations and promote strong relationships between civil society organisations (CSOs) and government representatives on engaging men and boys in gender equality and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). Developed by Promundo, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and the MenEngage Alliance, its goal is to strengthen these partnerships in order to enable the scale up and/or institutionalisation of evidence-based approaches to engaging men and boys. The tool was developed based on the findings that emerged from a global mapping of government-supported initiatives on engaging men and boys in gender equality and SRHR, carried out by Promundo-US (United States), as well as an expert group meeting convened in October 2014 by the UNFPA and Promundo-US.

Core sections focus on:

• Accountability to Women's and Girls' Rights - As an example of good practice, the MenEngage Alliance, a network of over 600 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) around the globe that are engaging men and boys for gender equality, developed a series of standards and guidelines to promote a culture of accountability to women’s rights groups as well as other key stakeholders among its members.
• Why Do Governments Collaborate with Civil Society to Engage with Men and Boys? - Five reasons are outlined.
• Types of Government Support Given to Civil Society Led Initiatives - This section outlines the ways in which governments have supported initiatives engaging men and boys for gender equality and SRHR, classified within a broad continuum with examples to illustrate each type of government support.
• Good Civil Society Practices for Partnering with Government in Scaling up and/or Institutionalizing Approaches to Engage Men and Boys in SRHR and Gender Equality - Organised by stages of the programme cycle, this tool can be used to highlight key entry points to gain, strengthen, and maintain government support for CSO-implemented programmes. (Same suggestion for seeking allies: "Support male government representatives to understand gender through their own lived experiences as men. Making it personal can help to mobilize male leaders to become agents of change for gender equality and SRHR. At the same time, this process of reflecting on one's own experiences of gender norms/masculinities/femininities can help to mobilize anyone for the cause.") In part through various checklists, it provides guidance on how CSOs can serve as more effective partners in these collaborations. It also features case study examples of how organisations engaging men for gender equality have worked with government to carry out programmes, as well as useful tools and resources where you can seek more information and guidance (further information is offered in the annexes).