Roundtable Dialogue on Construction of Masculinities and its Impact on Gender Justice

The AACC 2019-2023 Strategic Plan has identified Gender, Women and Youth as one of its four programmatic pillars. One of its programmatic interventions in this pillar is to, “increase participation of men in the fight against Sexual and Gender Based Violence”. Consequently, AACC has established six (6) Platforms of Male Champions for Gender Justice in six (6) pilot countries in 2020-2021 namely: Uganda, Malawi, Nigeria, DRC, Cameroon and Togo. The role of AACC is to accompany these Platforms by strengthening their capacities to identify and eliminate all forms of GBV in each of the counties. AACC also seeks to create awareness/self-understanding among the male champions about how construction of masculinities affects men positively and negatively, as well as the impact of construction of masculinities on gender justice. 
During the inception meeting of the Platform of Male Champions for Gender Justice in Cameroon on 18th May 2021, the Champions identified Male Dominance as a major course for gender injustices that needed attention by the Platform. They observed that GBV was on the increase and named some of the lurking gender injustices, which they were committed to address. These include-
-Rising domestic violence, adolescent/teenage pregnancies, especially with the ongoing Anglophone armed conflict in the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon, intensified by coronavirus pandemic, intimate partner violence and a reinforcement of harmful gender practices such as female genital mutilation, forced marriages, rape, and the disruption of the education of the girl child in our society that need attention by the platform.
These are the reasons for which AACC has chosen to collaborate with PCC as a way of strengthening the capacity of the male champions to address the raised concerns.

Objectives:
To strengthen the capacity of male champions, religious and traditional leaders, as well as youth to advocate for gender justice through construction of positive masculinities in Cameroon
To equip participants with advocacy skills for gender justice and mentorship 

Venue
The activity will take place in Buea, Cameroon. Buea is the capital of the Southwest Region of Cameroon.

Dates 
17th, 18th and 19th October 2023