We are gearing up for an exciting week at the Women Deliver conference in Kigali, Rwanda where we look forward to seeing many of our partners.
At the conference, we’ll be hosting the first launch event of our biennial State of the World’s Fathers report, the world’s only global report on men’s involvement in parenting and care work, which aims to change power structures, policies, and social norms around care work and to advance gender equality.
There’s much more to come on SOWF soon, including other launch events. For now, take a look at what else has been going on with MenCare.
Launching the State of America’s Fathers report
Equimundo, co-coordinator of the MenCare campaign, published the 2023 edition of the State of America’s Fathers report this June. This publication is the first country report in the State of the World’s Fathers report series and was launched as part of the U.S. Congressional Dads Caucus’ week of action for Father’s Day.
During a press conference and event with the Dads Caucus, where we were joined by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and a roundtable discussion hosted by Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff, and Congressman Jimmy Gomez, Chair of the Dads Caucus, we shared insights from the State of America’s Fathers report and advocated for paid parental leave, investments in maternal health, access to affordable child care, and involved fatherhood to improve the lives of working families in the United States.
While we have not achieved care equality in the US, we are encouraged by this fact: men are doing more care work than ever before, and we know that this care can be nurtured and expanded with supportive programming and policy. Achieving care equality is possible – but we need men doing an equal share and, equally importantly, we need the policy changes necessary for implementing nationally mandated paid leave and subsidized, high-quality childcare.
READ THE REPORT
“The State of America’s Fathers research confirms what we have long known: Parents, and all people, who care for a child or a loved one deserve the ability to provide love and care without risking their job, their financial stability, or their well-being — and are willing to activate in support of government investments in care policies. Care provides connection and grows the pie in both concrete and intangible ways that benefit people, businesses, communities, and the economy. It’s not zero sum. Paid family and medical leave for all, policies that expand access to care for our children and loved ones, wages for professionals who provide care, and economic support for families are all essential, not optional — and it’s great to see the Congressional Dads Caucus at the forefront of the fight for policies that our families and country need.”
– Vicki Shabo, Senior Fellow: Paid Leave, Gender Equity & Care Policy and Strategy, Better Life Lab @ New America
More on State of the World’s Fathers: Aside from the global report, there are seventeen (!) country reports launching this year discussing the state of fatherhood and men’s care work in specific countries across the globe. Aside from the State of America’s Fathers report, Argentina and Ireland have also launched their country reports.
CARING Webinar Series: “Advocating for a culture of care in all workplaces”
The MenCare Global Fatherhood campaign invites you to join our webinar series centered around the strategic recommendations from the forthcoming State of the World’s Fathers 2023 report.
Each webinar will highlight one of the six recommendations from SOWF 2023, which align with the acronym CARING. The webinar series highlights examples and evidence of care systems from around the world that engage men in unpaid care work.
On July 7, 2023, please join us for the second discussion as we put the “A” in CARING: “Advocating for a culture of care in all workplaces.”
The webinar is hosted by MenCare members Oxfam America and Cómplices por la Igualdad. We’ll be joined by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), a global organization of parliaments founded in 1889 as the first multilateral political organization in the world, and Sharon Fenster, an international consultant at Sharon Fenster Consulting, LLC, and expert on male allyship and diversity and inclusion.
This webinar will be presented in Spanish. Live simultaneous translation to English will be available throughout the webinar.
More MenCare News around the World
- Al Jareeza English | What’s Needed to Root out Gender Bias? interview featuring MenCare Officer Wessel van den Berg
- MenCare Georgia’s children’s book on gender equality featured at Tbilisi Int’l Book Festival
- Caring masculinities: What are they, and why are they important? (also available in Spanish)
- Learning Positive Masculinity: A Guide for Men Everywhere by MenCare partner World Vision Canada
- This Father’s Day, stop treating dads as dopes, deadbeats, or icebergs in the Washington Post
Welcoming new MenCare partners!
