Department of Counselling Services’ Family Resource Centre (FRC) will be joining countries around the world and celebrating the first official International Men’s Day (IMD) in the Cayman Islands on 19 November 2011.

The objectives of celebrating an IMD include focusing on men’s and boys’ health, improving gender relations, promoting gender equality, and highlighting positive male role models, while creating a safer less-violent world.

It is an occasion to celebrate their achievements and contributions, in particular to community, family, marriage, and childcare.

This year’s international theme, “Give Boys the Best Possible Start in Life” is asking people around the world to focus on five key challenges that boys all over the world experience:

• Health & Life Expectancy: Why do boys have higher likelihood of suicide? What can we do to give boys a chance to help them live longer, happier, healthier lives?
• Education: Why are boys in richer countries underperforming girls and less likely to get an education? How can we address truancy, depression, substance abuse? How can we close the gap between the sexes?
• Tolerance Violence: What actions can we take to help boys grow up free from violence and challenge our collective tolerance and support of violence against men and boys?
• Family Life: How can we give boys a right to family life and an equal opportunity to know and experience both father and mother and ensure their role as a future father is equal to girl’s role as a future mother?
• Real Life Choices: How can we make sure that every boy has opportunities to make a range of positive life choices in terms of work, family and leisure and reduce the number of boys whose life choices are limited and end up poor, illiterate, unemployed, homeless, imprisoned and isolated?

FRC will be hosting two events in honour of IMD. The 1^st Annual International Men’s Day Football Tournament & Expo open to the public and “Give Boys the Best Possible Start in Life” Roundtable Discussion which will be a featured broadcast.

We invite all to take part in these events and we also encourage organisations, community or individuals to join us in celebrating with events that are solution- focused and address the five key challenges presented.

“We feel it is important that boy’s issues are highlighted and we give them an opportunity to express themselves as well,” Miriam Foster, Acting Programme Coordinator of the Family Resource Centre. There is more information attached regarding FRC’s events.

If you have any questions or would like to get involved please contact: Miriam Foster at 949-0006 or email [email protected].