“Seeking to engage men and boys in effective ways to reduce gender inequalities and violence and promote healthy well-being of women, men, and children.” That, according to Rwamrec’s chairperson Fidel Rutayisire, is in short the aim of Men Engage Network in Rwanda.
Rwanda Men’s Resource Center (RWAMREC) was founded in October 2006 by men with different experiences in gender and other social disciplines, in response to a growing number of cases of gender based violence, and to government’s recognition of gender as one of the pillars for the social economic development on Rwanda.
Men Engage Network is a global alliance of organizations and institutions involved in research, interventions and policy initiatives to engage men and boys in reducing gender inequalities and violence. Its Rwandan chapter, which was launched recently, is being coordinated by RWAMREC and funded by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
“The impact of engaging men in fighting gender based violence is crucial for promoting gender equality,” says Eugene Nkubito, the head of civil society program in UNDP.
Nkubito acknowledges Rwanda’s achievements in bringing about gender equality, and sees the launch of Men Engage Network as one of the solutions to mobilize men to support women’s leadership, contribute to eradication of men’s violence against women and act as role models for positive masculinity.
According to Egide Kayihura, one of the board members of RWAMREC, the Men Engage Network is completely in line with the organizations vision. “We want a peaceful society where women and men share roles and responsibilities of raising families and governing in equality and respect,” he explains.
Kayihura adds that RWAMREC aims at establishing a men’s resource center that will strive to prevent violence through men; promote men’s positive attitudes towards non-violence and gender equality; build synergy between men and women through networking and information sharing for effective prevention of gender based violence; and provide general and useful resources through research on gender based violence.
“We see ourselves as mediators, we want to go down to the grassroots level and sensitize men and boys on gender-based,” remarks Egide Kayihura.
“We hope that Rwandans appropriate this approach, because they are the beneficiaries of this program,” he adds. “Men are not competing with women, we are complementing each other. Given that men are traditionally more empowered by the culture, they have exactly to be defenders of families as well as the communities.”
The director of gender and women empowerment in Migeprofe, Christianne Umuhire, thinks the Men Engage Network comes at the right moment, considering that violence against women and little girls is carried out mainly by men.
“Men have to be active icons in gender promotion, and the Network will help make men as well as women conscious of these hostilities,” she says.
She also urges RWAMREC and other responsible people to target the entire population, starting from the umudugudu level. “Each and everyone has to contribute, directly or indirectly, to the organization and targeted activities of this network,” Umuhire says.
