Nurturing Care and Men’s Engagement
Men caregivers play an important role in providing children nurturing care. Yet, often even when they want to be more involved, they are left out of the equation in policies, services and in communities. This thematic brief summarizes the evidence regarding the benefits of men’s engagement on outcomes for women, children, and even men themselves. It consolidates the learnings thus far regarding designing and adapting services to engage men in providing nurturing care. Finally, it recommends practical actions for policymakers and programme designers across four enabling environments: policies, services, communities and caregivers – all illustrated with case studies. It focuses particularly on what health services can do, while also covering education, social protection and other sectors.
Supporting Families for Gender-Transformative Parenting: Challenging the Gender Norms and Gender Inequalities – Creating a More Equitable Environment for All Children to Thrive
UNICEF’s new Gender Policy (2021-2030) and Gender Action Plan (GAP 2022-2025) emphasize UNICEF’s commitment to promoting gender equality around the world and recognize the integral role that positive gender socialization plays in transforming harmful gender norms and practices. With the International Step by Step Association (ISSA), UNICEF developed a resource package and training modules for frontline workers to support parents in implementing gender-transformative parenting practices at home and support positive gender socialization of children and adolescents. The resource package was piloted in eight UNICEF Country Offices in 2022.
