Research on Men in the Middle East and North Africa Reaches Millions

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Equimundo and UN Women launched the International Men and Gender Equality Survey in the Middle East and North Africa (IMAGES MENA) on Tuesday, May 2, 2017 in Beirut, Lebanon. The launch, attended by nearly 250 decision-makers, policy-makers, and stakeholders kicked off a three-day conference, Masculinities in the Arab World: “Trajectories to Peace and Gender Equality,” hosted by ABAAD, Equimundo, and UN Women.

IMAGES MENA is the first multi-country study in the Middle East and North Africa to take a wide-angle lens to the lives of men – as sons and husbands and fathers, at home and at work, in public and private life – to better understand how they see their positions as men, and their attitudes toward gender equality. Since the launch, the report has been highlighted in the media over 350 times including in The Economist, The Guardian, CNN, BBC World News, Reuters, NPR, Slate, and more, with a potential viewership of over 1.3 billion.

The nearly 10,000-person study by UN Women, Equimundo, and local research partners in Egypt, Morocco, Lebanon (including Syrian refugees), and Palestine, which also includes the perspectives of women, challenges many of the stereotypes commonly associated with men in these countries and highlights pathways to equality. The regional documentary, Understanding Masculinities, tells the stories of four men who are breaking stereotypes and championing equality, and has been viewed nearly 4,000 times.

The launch revealed the research findings, taking an honest look at what it means to be a man today in the four countries surveyed. In addition to those who joined in person, the #imagesmena hashtag was used over 1,800 times in May, receiving nearly 9 million impressions across Facebook and Twitter.

Join over 12,000 people who have visited the site, and download the full report today.

Learn more about the International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES), which has been implemented or is in process in over 30 countries, here.

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