Gender equality

Focusing solely on empowering women and educating them on their rights has limited results. Our research, and work on the ground, has proven that equality will never be achieved if men are not engaged, consulted and trained as allies and ambassadors. Concern’s 'Engaging men' projects – implemented across nine countries from Sierra Leone to Lebanon – are a crucial aspect of our work on gender equality. Generally carried out by community-based NGOs with the support of Concern, these projects provide counselling and health promotion activities. They also create a safe space for couples, or single sex groups, to discuss issues related to equality, asking questions like: what does it mean to be a man or woman? Or, how do our expectations cause harm to those around us and ourselves?

These programmes are proving particularly essential in communities that have been affected by conflict, such as the Syrian community in Lebanon. The stress and pain of fleeing from conflict and coping with a hugely altered new reality can lead to negative coping mechanisms. Our 'Engaging Men' programmes offer both men and women an outlet to process the emotional trauma they are experiencing. In parallel with this work, our teams also engage in gender equality issues with community leaders and with the wider community through campaigns to drive for change at a wider level.