Men face tremendous, varied pressures in society and require these to be dealt with in a masculine way was the message as the Men Affairs Bureau (MAB) was officially launched yesterday.
“We need to ensure that men and boys are not left behind,” said Trevor Thomas, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security. Falling under the auspices of the ministry, the establishment of the MAB is to ensure an institutional framework is in place to ensure that the welfare of men and boys are taken into consideration in the overall development plan. Thomas said the nation will not experience holistic development if there are dysfunctional men in society or there is a shortage of responsible males.
The launch at the Umana Yana yesterday-under the theme ‘Enabling and encouraging Men to fulfil their true potential as Fathers, Husbands, Partners and Role Models’-saw a large turnout including President Bharrat Jagdeo, ministers, other officials, men and women. Thomas said the MAB emerged out of calls for something to be done to address issues faced by men and boys. According to a flyer distributed, any man who is struggling with addiction, uncontrolled anger, relation issues, parenting skills, domestic abuse, depression or low self-esteem can meet with the MAB. Also, discussions in communities can be organised.
According to Men Empowerment Network (MEN) representative Dr Marlon Hestick, if men are honoured and given their place in society, it brings hope, given the role men play. He pointed to the issue of domestic violence which has come under the spotlight in recent years saying that typically this involved a “fallen man.” In the wake of the incidents, he said, they felt something needed to be done and MEN partnered with the ministry.
Men are not all bad, Hestick noted, while saying that a lot of men had fallen. Sons need men in order to mould them, he said. The pastor added that if a man is not “right,” the family and the nation are affected. He said they have an expectation that with the establishment of MAB, there will be a better appreciation of the circumstances and needs of the male.
In his remarks, MAB Administrator Reverend Patrick Findlay pointed out that MAB became operational last November. The vision is to help men realise and fulfil their full potential, he said. He said they are partnering with several donor agencies that are very enthusiastic and there are plans to go across the country and hold meetings. He said some meetings have already been held and the response was “amazing.” They also plan to go to schools as well. Findlay said MAB does not claim to have all the answers but pledged to educate and encourage.
According to him, men have shut themselves in a prison that takes away the joys of life and resort to, among other things, alcohol, extra-marital affairs and even suicide. He urged men to come and talk about the issues that are affecting them. “Everyone is depending on us guys, everyone,” he said.
Meanwhile, Community Development and Social Policy Officer in the Office of the President Reverend Kwame Gilbert said it was necessary to institutionalise an agency that addresses men’s issues because the problems which are being faced cannot be fixed at the same level of consciousness at which they were created. He said initiatives done have not produced the kind of results that were being worked for. It became necessary because “knee-jerk reactions cannot produce sustainable transformation,” he said. If women and children’s issues are to be effectively addressed, “we have to begin to talk with our men… not to them,” he emphasised.
‘Lost boys’
President Jagdeo, in giving the feature address, pointed out that it is the traditional view that men don’t need help but said men do need institutions to help them through the very challenging times we are faced with. A series of challenges faced by men is unique to men, he noted.
The President alluded to issues faced by men worldwide but particularly in the Caribbean. He said that at a certain age boys are being “lost to all sorts of influences.” He said that these days, boys are not achieving the same level of education as women and this leads to confidence issues. Also, the President said, boys are also susceptible to those hell-bent on a path to crime.
Jagdeo, in recalling meeting with teachers who said that more male teachers are needed, pointed to the absence of a community of men with male values to turn to. “Even now, there’s so much pressure on our boys and not just in school but in society. I think there’s a big fear it’s leading to the ‘effeminisation’ of men,” he said. The President said that this is because they don’t have a community of men with male values to turn to for guidance. He added that male and masculine values do not mean aggression but male values, “things that are unique to us, that we look up to in our fathers….”
“If we don’t have that support we will succumb more and more to this process of ‘effeminisation’ of men,” Jagdeo said. He said there are many incidences out there. We live in an open society so we can’t use “prohibition” to keep men away from some of these influences, Jagdeo said, alluding to things in society that would not be tolerated in a more closed society. “But we have committed ourselves to live with a constitution where people’s orientation etc are, people are not persecuted because of those,” he said. “But those influences do exist and we don’t want every young male child to start thinking that that is okay,” he added. The President said there is need for a community of men where men can get together to discuss male problems and how to deal with these in a strong, masculine environment. This has nothing to do with competition with women, he underscored. The President pointed out that there are societal issues that affect the self-confidence of men. He cited men not finding jobs in an environment where people expect males to be a provider for the family. “How hard is it for that male to deal with the criticism and the environment, the pressure of it when they can’t find a job and they’re expected to be the breadwinner for the family?” he asked. He said the society unfortunately still has too many people unemployed though the situation has improved tremendously.
“The way we respond to this pressure is not by striking out at the people who may criticise us,” Jagdeo said, adding that the way to do this is by dealing with the problem. But there must be a support system for men who face the problems of being undereducated in comparison to the female and their models in the school being all women. There must be some supporting network and the MAB is the attempt to create that network, the President said. “Creating this network would help us to tackle the other problems that our women face so much. It would help us because sometimes [women] throw up their hands in the air, they don’t know how to deal with us ’cause we don’t know ourselves, we don’t have the confidence to deal with ourselves and our issues,” he added.
Minister of Human Services Priya Manickchand, noting the focus on tackling issues related to gender equality with many believing that this has to do chiefly with women, said she believed the world has missed the opportunity to create a space for men to discuss issues. Men have felt left out, she said. “We have to cater in a more strategic way for the needs of the men of our country,” she added.
