A while back I posted an announcement about the 2012 International Men's Day - Jason Thompson (the IMD coordinator for Australia) kindly alerted me to the fact that I had posted the wrong information:
the IMD site you quoted belongs to a man who has been disendorsed from the global IMD community due to fraudulent fundraising and other activity. Moreover, his yearly theme that you have promoted is not the one endorsed by IMD Founder Dr. Jerome Teelucksingh.The real site is here.
Here is this year's theme:
In the run up to International Men's Day 2012 (Monday 19th November) we're asking supporters of the day to focus on five key challenges that will help us improve the health and wellbeing of men and boys all over the world.
Some of the universal health issues that men and boys in all countries around the globe face include lower life expectancy, difficulty accessing mental health services, educational disadvantages, lack of male role models and tolerance of violence against men and boys.
To help us focus our collective minds upon helping men and boys live longer, happier, healthier lives, the five key challenges that the International Men's Day team is inviting men and women all over the world to address are shown below.
Addressing each of these challenges will help us to help men and boys all over the world to live longer, happier, healthier lives, which is why we are inviting supporters of International Men's Day to join us in taking on one of more of these five key challenges in 2012.
IMPROVING MEN'S LIFE EXPECTANCY From the moment a boy is born he can expect to live a shorter life than his female counterparts in all but four countries on the planet. There is also a huge gap in life expectancy between rich and poor countries with men in Mozambique reaching an average age of 38 while in Iceland, Israel and Switzerland men live twice as long until the age of 80. There are also huge gaps in life expectancy within countries, with men born in the poorest parts of the United Kingdom, for example, dying 10 years sooner than their fellow countrymen in the wealthiest parts of the capital city. Boys are not genetically programmed to die young so our first challenge this International Men's Day is to ask countries taking part to consider how we can help all men and boys live longer, happier, healthier lives – no matter how poor they are and no matter what country they are born in.
HELPING MEN GET HELP Every year poor mental health drives over three quarters of a million people to commit suicide – and around two thirds of them are males. Men and boys all over the world can find it more difficult to access help for mental and emotional health problems and most prison populations include a significant number of men with mental health issues. This International Men's Day we are asking participating countries to consider how we can help more men and boys get the help and support they need and to take action on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of men who will take their own lives this year.
IMPROVING BOYS' EDUCATION: Poor education is linked to poor health outcomes later in life so improving boys' education will also help men and boys live longer, happier healthier lives. This International Men's Day we are asking people to explore why boys in richer countries are under performing girls and also less likely to be in education, and why tens of millions of boys in poorer countries are still not completing a primary education? How can we address truancy and poor literacy rates which leave boys prone to adult unemployment, substance abuse, obesity, depression and poverty? What action can we take to focus on boys' education in a way that closes the gap between girls and boys, addresses the gaps between rich boys and poor boys, and helps us to improve the long-term health and wellbeing of all men and boys.
TACKLING TOLERANCE OF VIOLENCE AGAINST MEN AND BOYS: Violence has a major impact on men's health all over the world. Every year over half a million people die from violence and 83% of them are men and boys. A similar proportion of the global burden of disease (ill-health, disability or early death) from violence is borne by boys and men. Yet while there are now a number of deserved global campaigns to tackle violence against women and girls, there are no such campaigns to help men and boys. Why are we so tolerant of violence and abuse against boys and men and why do we still tolerate a world where we send boys and young men to fight wars on behalf of the adults in power? This International Men's Day we are asking for actions we can take to help men and boys live in a less violent world and challenge our collective global tolerance of violence against men and boys.
PROMOTING FATHERS AND MALE ROLE MODELS: Fathers and male role models play a vital role in helping boys make a healthy, happy and positive transition from boyhood to manhood. How can we give boys a right to family life that gives them an equal opportunity to know and experience both their father and mother and ensure that their role as a future father is equal to girls' role as future mothers? Giving boys a range of positive life choices in terms of family, work and leisure can help us reduce the number of boys whose choices are limited and end up poor, illiterate, unemployed, homeless, imprisoned and isolated. This International Men's Day we are asking what actions we can take to give all boys access to a variety of male role models and ensure their country's laws and practices give them an equal right to fatherhood, with all the support they need to be the best fathers they can be.
Here are some of the key issues men and boys face around the world.
Issues and StatisticsBased on UK data
Death and suicide
From the moment they are born boys are more likely die before the age of one. By the time they reach 16 boys are two-and-half times more likely to die before they reach 25 years old. They are twice as likely to die before reaching retirement age. More than 95% of the 200 people killed in the workplace every year are men. More than 10 men a day kill themselves with men being 3 times more likely to commit suicide. Men are more likely to killed by strangers and killed by someone they know accounting for more than 71% of all murders. Boys who are excluded from school are 19 times more likely to commit suicide.FamilyThey are also more likely to be rejected by or removed from their families, being 25% more likely to be taken into care and 25% less likely to taken out of care by being adopted.Education and employmentBoys are twice as likely to have a Special Educational Need and twice as likely to have literacy problems. They are four times more likely to be excluded from school. They are also more likely to experience youth unemployment, less likely to go to university and and those that do are 50% more likely to be unemployed when they graduate. Throughout life men are more likely to experience being unemployed and looking for work. Boys with literacy problems are two to three times more likely to end up being heavy smokers, drinkers and unemployed.Fatherlessness1.5 million boys are separated from their fathers and half a million have no contact with their dad. The lack of a father (and lack of male role models more generally) impacts boys in different ways to girls who have a wealth of female role models including the 85% of primary school teachers who are female. Boys who are fatherless, illiterate and end up in care are more likely to be excluded from school. Boys from fatherless families are nine times more likely to commit crime. Approx. 9 out of 10 fathers applying for contact or residence of their children (post family breakup) will fail to achieve it in the family courts, typically after 2 years 80% of fathers will no longer see their children.CrimeMen are twice as likely to be victims of violent crime and are more likely to killed by strangers and killed by someone they know accounting for more than 71% of all murders. Boys who are fatherless, in care, excluded from school and have literacy problems are more likely to end up in prison. 95% of the country’s 100,000 prisoners male. If this were down to men naturally being disposed towards criminal activity, why then do we not see all classes of society equally represented in prison?Social ExclusionMen are 4 times more likely to become an alcoholic, three times more likely to be dependent on cannabis and account for 9 out of 10 rough sleepers.
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