Background

There has been a growing body of evidence and recognition of the critical role that men & boys play in promoting and ensuring positive sexual and reproductive health (SRH), including HIV and violence prevention.

The involvement of men and boys as clients themselves, partners to others, and community-engaged individuals that support gender transformation more broadly, has the potential to significantly enhance global efforts to promote SRH. The GPC 2025 Road Map identifies adolescent boys and men (ABM) as pillar 3 for HIV prevention, highlighting the importance of reaching through group with HIV prevention programmes and promoting gender equitable norms.

To shed light on this important topic, the South-to-South Network together with Sycona co-hosted a webinar to better understand the various dimensions of engaging ABM in SRH and HIV interventions.

Event Details

The objectives of this webinar were to: 

• Share the findings of a global evidence review that sought to assess what interventions have been successfully used to engage men & boys as clients, partners, and agents of change for HIV prevention and SRH, and what implementation lessons have been learned.
• Discuss best practices from interventions that have effectively engaged men & boys in promoting HIV prevention and SRH initiatives.
• Learn from country experiences of engaging men & boys in HIV prevention and SRH programmes.
• Foster dialogue and collaboration among stakeholders from diverse and influential sectors, including government representatives, researchers, youth and advocacy organisations. 
• Gain insights from SSLN HIV prevention country champions on activities and evidence needs to strengthen male engagement.

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The webinar included:

The webinar was chaired by Sarah Magni (AGYW Lead for SSLN and Sycona, Genesis Analytics).

Ann Gottert (Associate II SBS Research, Population Council) and Julie Pulerwitz (Senior Advisor on HIV & SGBV Research, Population Council) presented on an evidence review of engaging men and boys as clients and partners, and promoting an enabling environment for HIV prevention and SRH.

This was followed by engaging panel discussion, which was facilitated by Chantalle Okondo (Research Officer, Kenya Population Council). Our panellists included Nozipho Shabalala (KZN Ministry of Health in South Africa), Luwi Mercy Katoka (NextGen Squad, MOSAIC in Zambia) and Michel José Drouyahi (SSLN Youth Champion from Côte d'Ivoire)

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Access the webinar resources

You can find the full presentation here as well as a recording of the event here.

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