Young Men as Allies in the Promotion of
Health and Gender Equity:

An International Conference and Regional Workshop
Rio de Janeiro, August 27-30, 2002

Instituto PROMUNDO, in collaboration with PAHO/WHO, UNFPA and, IPPF/WHR is organizing a Conference on Young Men as Allies in the Promotion of Health and Gender Equity, which will take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on August 27-30, 2002.

The event is targeted at individuals and organizations that work in the areas of gender and adolescent health and will consist of a mixture of recent research and program experiences, as well as discussing issues including fatherhood, gender, masculinities, sexual and reproductive health and violence. The event will take place in the form of plenary sessions and roundtables and will span 2 and half days. Key researchers and program personnel who have been working in these areas will be present at the event. Young men and women will also participate and will have an opportunity to share their points of view. It is expected that most of the participants will come from the Latin American region, but there will also be individuals from other regions including North America, Africa the Middle East and Asia who will come together to share about working with young men, to learn about the experiences of others and also to discuss how to proceed in this area. There will be simultaneous translation in Portuguese, Spanish and English. At the end of the event participants will come away with practical tools on how to engage young men in health promotion and gender equity.

On August 30 there will be a full day training on the use of the 5 manuals from Project H which have been developed by PROMUNDO and partner NGOs (Ecos, Salud y Género and Programa Papai). The authors of the manuals will facilitate a participatory introductory workshop to the materials, which will be open for up to one hundred participants (in Portuguese, Spanish or English). These manuals were designed by educators and health professionals for use with groups of young men ages 15-24. Each manual consists of a background section and participatory group educational activities. The five manuals are: Sexuality and Reproductive Health; Fatherhood and Caregiving; Violence; Mental Health; and Preventing and Living with HIV/AIDS. The five manuals are accompanied by a creative cartoon video entitled "Once Upon a Boy". This is an optional part of the event but highly recommended.

For further information about the conference, costs and registration details, please contact Patricia Abecassis from PROMUNDO at:p.abecassis@promundo.org.br, or by telephone at + 55-21-2544-3114, and fax: + 55-21-2220-3511. For more information about the Manuals and how to purchase them, please go to:www.promundo.org.br.