Does men’s involvement in SRH increase their power over their female partners or does it actually help to empower women? What is the impact of involving men in areas that have traditionally been the domain of women, such as childcare, pregnancy and fertility control? In response to these critical queries, this paper assesses the impact of men’s involvement in SRH programs by providing a meta-analysis of published evaluations of SRH interventions targeting heterosexual men since the 1990s.

What are the key issues around involving men in reproductive health? This paper reviews a variety of existing global data on men’s sexual and reproductive health (SRH) needs, attitudes and practices and identifies current gaps in this body of knowledge. The authors also highlight policy work that support and institutionalise male involvement in reproductive health, as well as programs that involve men in reproductive health, emphasising the evolution of such programming and policy, as well as best practices and success stories.

How can men be supported to overcome rigid gender norms that can be damaging to their own and their partners’ SRH? This article discusses the limitations of an instrumentalist approach to men’s involvement in SRH to solely benefit women’s health, and the problematic ways in which men’s sexual health and sexuality tends to be treated as homogenous and one-dimensional, which undermines men who are marginalised or themselves challenge gender roles.

How can policies be designed to successfully improve men and women’s sexual and reproductive health (SRH)? This toolkit supports effective policy development by identifying the proven efficacy of engaging men in SRH, tracing the development of global policies to engage men in SRH, and examining policy issues that need to be addressed for effective engagement with men in SRH and to promote gender equality.

What are the best practices to promote men’s involvement in SRH while simultaneously promoting gender equality? This report argues that engaging men in SRH and gender equality can lead to better SRH outcomes for men and women, and prevent reinforcing male power over reproductive and sexual decision-making. A conceptual model that can be used for programming, monitoring and evaluation to engage men in SRH and gender equality including men as clients, partners and agents of positive change is provided.

How are the rising rates of women in the workforce affecting family and household structures? In a world where there is still a widespread prevalence of male breadwinner ideologies, women’s earnings represent an apparent threat to male authority. This paper uses a gender perspective to analyse the social consequences of the global market economy on the family unit.

What does justice mean for survivors of conflict related sexual violence at the local and global levels and what are the social, political, and legal implications gender has or should have? Today, armed groups frequently employ sexual violence in conflict in a systematic manner, as a tactic of war.

How do gender transformative approaches to improve sexual health impact on violence between men and women? Interventions that seek to transform gender roles and relationships between men and women are frequently being referred to as ‘gender transformative’. Stepping Stones is a participatory learning approach with the goal of achieving this change.

How does the process of decision-making in female genital cutting shape the practice and the response? What motivates individuals to change, and how do broader social factors or contingencies influence the change process?

What is the relationship between unemployment and disempowerment for men in East Africa? How does this influence the construction of male identity and behaviour? What does this mean for the empowerment of women?