Engaging Men in Combating and Reducing Gender Based Violence: Upscaling and Developing “Men for Gender Equality Now” Initiatives in Chitipa District

The Government of Malawi (GoM) acknowledges that gender based violence (GBV) is a severe impediment to poverty reduction and socio-economic development. However, most GBV interventions only targeted women, and lacked a focus on men, thereby creating a huge gap, some have argued, has that significantly contributed to limited impact of most GBV interventions. The proposed intervention will therefore focus on promoting the engagement of men as a strategy of combating GBV and promoting gender equality. The project will use Theory of Change and the following strategies: capacity building of key GBV service providers; mobilization men in combating GBV; strengthening GBV survivor support programme; developing a mass media campaign; improving collaboration and networking as well as community based monitoring. The project will complement Malawi Human Rights Resource Centre´s project on Gender Equality and Women Empowerment in the target district, which also has a component of male involvement. The Men for Gender Equality Now (MEGEN), established in 2001, will provide the platform for the implementation of the project, upscaling initiatives it has been involved in over the last few years. It is estimated that the project would require USD 160,263 to be implemented within a time frame of two years.