International Men's Day has been celebrated annually on 19 November since 1999, when it was inaugurated in Trinidad and Tobago. It is currently supported by over 50 countries worldwide, including South Africa.
The objectives of International Men's Day include focusing on men's and boy's health and well being, improving
gender relations, promoting gender equality and highlighting positive male role models. It is an occasion to highlight and celebrate their achievements and contributions in particular towards the community, family, marriage and child care.
The 2013 theme is: “Keeping Men and Boys Safe”. The focus will be on:
• Keeping Men and Boys Safe by tackling Male suicide;
• Keeping Boys Safe to promote future role models (create a safe family, school and community environment);
• Tackling our tolerance of violence against Men and Boys;
• Focus on men's and boy's health and well being, social, emotional, physical and spiritual;
• Keeping Men and Boy's Safe by promoting Fathers and male role models (helping boys to make a safe transition from boyhood to manhood);
• Improvement of gender relations and to address their issues regarding social services, social attitudes and expectations and the law.
• To maximize the participation and commitment of all men in strengthening family life.
Along with the economy, polity and education, the family is universally viewed as one of the essential sectors without which no society can function. The family influences the way society is structured, organised, and functions. It is essentially through the family that each generation is replaced by the next; that children are born, socialized and cared for until they attain their independence and that each generation fulfils its care responsibilities to minors, older persons, and the sick.
The South African Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR) in its study (2011) mentioned that South African families are faced with a number of challenges such as absent fathers, teenage pregnancy, violence, school dropouts and HIV/Aids etc. Although HIV/Aids has had a profound effect on the number of single parent households, the most worrying trend is the increase in the number of absent, living fathers.
Children living without the presence of their fathers or not having a father figure are most likely to experience emotional disturbances, anti-social behaviour and poor educational outcomes. It is against this background that the Department of Social Development has developed a Fatherhood Strategy to empower service providers to respond to the needs of men as outlined in the White Paper on Families in South Africa.
Issued by:
Conrad Fortune
Manager : Communications
Department of Social Development
053 – 8749249
079 873 0679
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