A new study focuses on the effectiveness of MenCare+ programming for parents in promoting gender equality in Cape Town, South Africa. It examines the ways in which attitudes toward gender, household divisions of caregiving, and fathers’ involvement among participants change before and after joining MenCare+ fathers’ groups.
MenCare’s co-coordinator Sonke Gender Justice is working to ensure that a special petition to grant fathers the right to 10 days of paternity leave in South Africa is taken seriously, and that Parliament takes up the call to change the law.
Thursday, 21 November 2013 marked an exciting day for MenCare+, with its official South African launch taking place in Khayelitsha’s Desmond Tutu Hall. People poured into the crowded hall for registration; after which fathers, young people, mothers, children, government personnel as well as partner organisations were seated in anticipation for the day’s proceedings. The event’s …
MenCare+ South Africa, launched officially in November, has started to show concrete results among South Africans.
As a result of the high rate of absent fatherhood in South Africa, women are bearing the burden of raising children, and children are growing up without the positive influence of a second caregiver. This is one of the reasons why MenCare partner and global co-coordinator Sonke Gender Justice is working to get fathers in South Africa more involved.
MenCare global co-coordinator Sonke Gender Justice (Sonke) and the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) launched the inaugural State of South Africa’s Fathers report on July 12, 2018 in Pretoria, South Africa. The report coincides with an important moment in the country’s history in which key amendments to South Africa’s labor law will allow for better parental leave …
South Africa eagerly awaits the signing of its new Labour Law Amendment Bill, which will provide an increase in paid leave benefits for all new parents. The bill was passed by the country’s National Assembly in 2017; it is expected to be approved by the National Council of Provinces and signed by President Cyril Ramaphosa this year.
One of the major challenges faced by families in South Africa is father absence, which has significant implications for child and family wellbeing. Data from Statistics South Africa (2010) reveal that 48% of children in South Africa have absent fathers, while only 33% live with both parents. About 39% of children live with their mothers …
January 2015 has seen a large-scale distribution of new MenCare+ South Africa posters to partner organizations and stakeholders in the country, including health care facilities, psychosocial care providers, local government service providers, community-based organizations, and NGOs in support of the MenCare+ focus areas. The MenCare+ South Africa poster series is made up of six posters …
Globally, there continues to be tension between the home and the workplace, and parents – especially those with young children – must grapple with difficult decisions when balancing employment and family. Particularly in South Africa, sociocultural norms play an important role in shaping family structures and attitudes towards fatherhood and male involvement.
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