Officers at the Ministry of Equality have recently attended a webinar series, ‘On Men and Masculinities – From Change and Crises to Empowerment’, held over the past three months.  

A statement from the Government follows below:

The Ministry of Equality continues to develop its work around gender equality by focusing on men and masculinity. Officers at the Ministry have recently attended a webinar series, ‘On Men and Masculinities – From Change and Crises to Empowerment’, held over the past three months.  

The free webinar series was organised by the Council for Gender Equality of Finland (Tane) and the Central Association of Men’s Organizations in Finland, and funded by the Nordic council of Ministers. 

The focus of the three webinars were, ‘Masculinities as a tool to well-being and empowerment’, ‘Men and manhood in crises’ and ‘Men and gender equality policies.’ 

The webinars, which are now available online, provided a forum to discuss how the changing social norms and gender stereotypes impact men and boys and how social transformation can be used to harness positive change. Furthermore, the webinars provided reflections on gender-responsive policymaking, with a specific focus on men’s well-being and their role in strengthening gender equality in society.  

Minister for Equality, the Hon Christian Santos GMD MP, said: ‘I am very pleased to see that, following from my trip to the United Nations Commission of the Status of Women in March this year, officers from the Ministry of Equality continue to engage with and learn from some of the experts and organisations that I had the pleasure of meeting in New York. People often mistakenly assume that when we refer to gender equality, we are only referring to women’s rights and women’s issues. Nothing could be further from the truth. Enhancing the well-being of boys and men is a vital component in ensuring a more equitable society and one that we have sought to address through our initiatives to mark International Men’s Day in 2024 and 2023. I look forward to building upon this in 2025.’