Engaging men as advocates for gender equality

The "Barbershop" conference takes place next week in New York at the United Nations headquarters and aligns with the HeForShe movement which is engaging men and boys as advocates for gender equality. The conference is an initative by Iceland and Suriname.  

Men to take responsibility and to encourage other men to join in

The “Barbershop Conference” aims to rally men and boys to commit to upholding gender equality and change the discourse among their peers to build a momentum for gender equality. The conference will enlist its attendees to move away from a discourse loaded with negative gender stereotypes and expectations. Through their own behavior, men can work toward the positive transformation of social norms. At the conference, they will examine the role of men as change agents on gender equality who take responsibility for their actions and encourage other men to join in. This, the incentive hopes, will help stimulate a grassroots dialogue between men and build on the progress made by recent movements such as the HeForShe campaign.

Iceland as a leader in gender equality

The conference also aligns with the HeForShe movement, which aims to  engage men and boys as advocates for gender equality and women’s and girls’ rights. At a press conference today at Iceland's Foreign Ministry,  the male staff of  Ministry all took  a stand with the HeForShe movement to encourage other men to sign the petition. 

At the press conference, Iceland's Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr.Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson explained in an interview with mbl.is TV what he hopes will be the outcome of the conference and the role of Iceland as a leader on the subject of gender equality. He points out that Iceland is already at the forefront of such issues, ranking first in gender equality on the World Economic Forum although of course, it could do better still in many areas.