Men’s Involvement in Gender and Development Policy and Practice

In what sectors and contexts should work on gender and development involve men as beneficiaries? What are the issues confronting men who work in development projects that are committed to promoting gender equality? These questions were addressed by contributors to a seminar hosted by Oxfam GB, with the Center for Cross-Cultural Research on Women at the University of Oxford, in Oxford in June 2000. This working paper presents an edited selection of papers given at the seminar by speakers from both North and South. These included women and men working as gender trainers and policy advisers in a wide range of contexts, from a task-force on reproductive health in Egypt to drop-in centres for unemployed men in the north of England. The contributors consider current debates about men and masculinity and argue that gender and development theory, fully expressed in practice, means not only working with women, but also with, and for, men.