Program H and Program M: engaging young men and empowering young women to promote gender equality and health

Program H and Program M were developed to engage youth in critical reflections on gender and help them build skills to act in more empowered and equitable ways. The complementary interventions use educational workshops, community outreach strategies and a multi-media campaign to empower young women to feel a sense of agency and control over their lives and to sensitize young men to some of the harmful ways they are socialized and introduces ways to take on more gender-equitable attitudes and behaviours. Program H and Program M have been carried out in diverse contexts in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as in Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and the Balkans. Beneficiaries have included youth living in urban centers and youth living in rural areas, in-school and out-of-school youth, single youth and married youth, and youth of various sexual orientations. The curricula have also been used to train health and education professionals on how to incorporate a gender perspective in their...