On March 2, 2017, at 17:00 at the Radison Blu Iveria Hotel (1 Rose Revolution Square, Tbilisi) members and supporters of the MenCare Georgia Campaign celebrated Gender Week.
The event on March 2 was held to celebrate Gender Week in Georgia and to reinforce men’s support to achieving gender equality. Activists of the MenCare Campaign, who strongly believe that gender equality is an important issue not only for women, but also for men and for the society at large, strived to expand their network and engage more men in public discourse about achieving real equality between men and women. The event brought together more than a hundred participants and supporters of the Campaign including politicians, representatives of the government, art and science fields, athletes, writers, musicians.
Activists of the Campaign spoke about 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; share the success stories, as well as bring to the attention of the audience advocacy issues, such as introducing official celebration of Father’s Day (June 19) in Georgia and promoting paternity leave.
Kakha Kaladze, Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Energy of Georgia also attended the event and confirmed his support to the Campaign: “We have to acknowledge and face the problems that exist in our country and society. I’m glad to see that we have gathered here to openly talk about these challenges. I applaud this initiative and am inspired by its goal; I would like to express my support both as a fellow citizen and as the vice-premier of Georgia.”
MenCare campaign was launched by UNFPA in partnership with the NGO We Care in July, 2016 within the framework of the United Nations Joint Programme for Gender Equality. The success of the campaign is largely determined by the fact, that is has been designed based on evidences and considering socio-cultural context of Georgia.
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 standards; based on the findings of the survey Men and Gender Relations in Georgia conducted with UNFPA support in 2013, the share of men involved in daily activities such as selecting reading books, talking with schoolteachers, helping their children with homework if necessary and washing their clothes, does not exceed 5%.
MenCare 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.
