The Secretariat of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) under the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD (AUDA-NEPAD) funded Project, and in collaboration with Miet Africa and Sonke Gender Justice, will convene a regional consultative forum to discuss and share effective strategies on engagement of men and boys in promoting gender equality, prevention of Gender Based Violence (GBV) and HIV and AIDS and in advancing Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) outcomes. The workshop will be held in Cape Town, Republic of South Africa from the 25th to 28th November 2025
The regional consultative platform will promote adoption and implementation of policies, programmes and interventions aimed at promoting positive masculinity and challenging and modifying harmful social norms around gender and masculinity across sectors in the SADC region. The Forum will bring together different stakeholders and partners that work to address GBV, HIV and promote SRHR outcomes.
The objectives of the workshop are to:
1. Enhance understanding and promote evidence-based gender transformative male engagement strategies to address GBV, HIV and advance SHRH outcomes in the SADC region.
2. Facilitate exchange of experiences, good practices and innovative models for engaging men and boys at regional, national and community levels.
3. Strengthen partnerships and collaboration among stakeholders especially those working with men and boys to promote positive masculinity.
4. Develop a Roadmap and Call-for-Action for increased focus on the engagement of men and boys in GBV, SRHR and HIV, including on addressing underlying factors that perpetuate harmful social and cultural norms, and strengthening implementation of the Boys and Young Men Vulnerability Framework.
The regional consultative platform seeks to break unhealthy gendered patterns that promote GBV, have negative impact on male health-seeking behaviours and facilitate a better understanding of the role that needs to be played by men and boys as partners. It will further enhance the regional capacity for engaging men and boys as transformative partners in promoting gender equality, preventing GBV, advancing SRHR outcomes and reducing HIV infections across the SADC region.
