On December 8, 2017, “Lullaby for Lilly” - Children's book presentation was organized in the framework of the MenCare campaign in Georgia. The book is written by Alexandre Lortkipanidze, illustrated by Sopho Kirtadze and designed by Ekaterine Tabliashvili. The book tells a story about the life of one ordinary family -  a family where mother and father equally share household duties and responsibilities of raising children, a family where the harmony is achieved by reaching the mutual understanding, sharing happiness as well as challenges and jointly finding the ways to overcome difficulties.

The book aims to highlight the importance of men’s involvement as equitable, nonviolent fathers and caregivers in order to achieve family well-being, gender equality and better health for mothers, fathers and children. The research findings confirm that existing stereotypes and established clichés prevent men from taking responsibility and being caring fathers, husbands, partners and family members. It also suggests existence of strong social gender norms and standards; based on the findings of the survey Men and Gender Relations in Georgia conducted with UNFPA support in 2013, the men’s daily involvement in the upbringing of children aged 0-6 is limited to playing and talking to them. The share of men who cook and change diapers or clothes for their children aged 0-6, bathe and take them to kindergarten or school or for entertainment, and who read books to them on a daily basis does not exceed a total of 18%.

MenCare Campaign in Georgia is implemented by UNFPA Georgia Country Office in partnership with the NGO We Care within the framework of the UN Joint Programme for Gender Equality funded by the Government of Sweden. The campaign aims at promoting men’s involvement as equitable, nonviolent fathers and caregivers in order to achieve better health and family well-being and to encourage men to support gender equality and thus contribute to the harmonious development of the society. The MenCare campaign is open to all men, who share the idea and principles of the Campaign.

The event was dedicated to 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign