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The first conference of French-speaking African countries on Men's Participation in Reproductive Health was held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, from March 30 - April 3, 1998. It was organized to share experiences and lessons learned over the past decade among African organizations about communicating with men on reproductive health issues. These lessons applied to: designing and implementing communication programs to build men's awareness and provide them with information about services, advocate and gain support among policy makers to provide reproductive health information and services for men and evaluate program results. The conference was cosponsored by Johns Hopkins University/Population Communication Services (JHU/PCS) and the Academy for Educational Development (AED). |
 In Africa, men play key roles in
reproductive health as individuals,
family members, community
decision makers and national
leaders. Most reproductive health
care, however, is focused on
women. Reaching men is key to
making family planning more widely
used, ensuring safe motherhood,
and limiting the spread of HIV/AIDS.
The conference focused on
reaching men by overcoming
barriers to men's participation and building on decision making traditions in
the region. To reach men, communication must be based on men's
information needs and must respond directly to their own interests and
concerns. Research shows that communication and education materials
should portray men as responsible participants in reproductive health and
not as obstacles, to encourage men to talk with their partners and make
decisions together, to improve the image of contraceptives, reach young
men and promote their sexually responsible behavior and to provide
information and counseling to help men used the available services. |
