Strengthening the Capacity of Civil Society to Engage Men and Boys
Between March of 2019 and December of 2021, Promundo-US implemented the Bolivia National Training Initiative on Masculinities with 27 representatives from Civil Society Organizations and UN agencies in Bolivia. Among those represented were OXFAM, the International Labor Organization (ILO), UNFPA, UNICEF, UNWomen, Aldeas Infantiles, ACOBOL, CIES, Alianza por la Solidaridad, Swisscontact, Solidar Suiza, and EME Cultura Salud.
The objective of the training was to build understanding, knowledge, and skills around how to engage men and boys in violence prevention through evidenced-based, gender-transformative approaches. Over the course of two in-person five-day trainings participants were able to:
- learn methods to engage men and boys in programming around violence prevention and caregiving,
- understand the evidence from Bolivia and the region
- build a network of like-minded colleagues with whom they could share experiences and challenges
- develop Commitments to Action (“CtoA”) or institutional action plans to put what they learned into practice.
Each participating institution was provided a small seed grant and assigned a mentor to support them in carrying out their Commitments to Action before the second installment of the training.
Commitments to Action
The focus and design of the initiatives were creative, ambitious and grounded. Commitments ranged from the integration of a masculinities lens into work with parents and youth in specific areas of the country, to the auditing of internal organizational practices to institute greater gender equality in their own workplace and partnerships. Some examples of the project NTI participants completed include:
- Promoting reflection on masculinities in educational units in El Alto (including fathers, mothers, teachers) based on diagnostic research, participatory analysis, and joint formulation of strategies and methodologies to reduce gender violence against girls and adolescent women.
- Designing and implementing organizational processes and practices to create a climate and organizational culture conducive to the promotion of gender equality across the institution.
- Raising awareness and sensitizing the population of the Municipality of Irupana to shift narratives and transform attitudes about gender and masculinity.
- Integrating an equality and masculinities approach in the extrajudicial conciliation services provided by the UNIR foundation to the public.
- Mobilizing bolivian youth in political activism by equipping them with a stronger understanding of gender and masculinities.
Lessons learned in applying a masculinities lens in the work with men and boys
In November/December of 2021, the group came back together for a second 4-day installment of the training. Virtually this time due to the COVID-19 pandemic, NTI participants shared with each other the outcomes and lessons learned from the implementation of their Commitment to Action initiatives and the integration of a masculinities lens into their work. Here are some of their reflections and testimonies they offered:
“Work on masculinities with young people is key to advancing in the deconstruction of gender roles and the naturalization of violence. We see a population with a high interest in analysis of and reflection about their situation and with the desire to generate changes in their lives and in their immediate environment.” – Alianza Solidaria
“The true lesson is in reviewing the personal, in how we each can relearn a new form of coexistence and promotion of equality, equity and opportunity between men and women.” – Aldea SOS
“We can and must identify the decisive moments in the life of a process (for example, in developing trainings, evaluation instruments, or indicators) that give way to “windows of opportunity” for incorporating the gender perspective into our objectives, goals, and activities. That way we can more systematically tend toward advancing gender equality through our work .” – CIES
Read more about about the Promundo-US National Training Initiative model and its implementation in the Latinamerican region.