WABA MWG Key Issues & Challenges

WABA Men’s Working Group
Key Issues & Challenges

• Men are not actually engaged in maternal and child care issues
• Men and youth are minimally involved in gender sensitive breastfeeding support activities that reduce inequalities between male and female.

Responses/Actions

Social Mobilization
• Collaborate with Gender Working Group (GWG) and the World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) team to mobilize and sustain positive men’s and youth initiatives that are gender sensitive within breastfeeding promotion and protection actions.
• Men’s WG to participate in WBW developments, plan and conduct innovative actions

Information
• Produce men’s e-newsletter
• Produce and disseminate educational materials to increase men’s awareness in order to support women, especially pregnant and breastfeeding women.
• Produce sensitization materials in collaboration with the HIV Taskforce for men’s information, education and communication activities within the communities.

Advocacy
• Advocate for country legislature to give more opportunities to engage more men in concerns of home, parenting and child care.
• Advocate for formulating and implementing maternity protection legislation based on ILO C193 recommendations.
• Promote advocacy on broader objectives of Men’s Initiative at various forums on Code Implementation in the regions and countries with high violate rates.

Capacity Building
• Conduct gender training for men’s and youth in the breastfeeding network with existing gender training efforts.
• Promote legislature that gives women and mothers the possibilities to engage in bread-winning jobs.
• Work with Maternity Protection Coalition to increase awareness, particularly men’s role and responsibilities in this area.

Development
• Promote and expand global networking through the regional snap shots.
• Encourage participation in international and regional men’s exchange forums and organize a Men’s/Fathers’ Forum in conjunction with WABA Global Forum 3.
• Participate in international and regional women’s conferences and meetings.