Partnership & Accountability blog series

MenEngage recognizes that its work was born out of a feminist tradition and that women-led organizations have carried out the foundational gender work. As a network mainly comprising activists and civil society organizations we strive to follow this foundational work, collaborating with women’s right groups by working with men and boys. In this context, accountability to the women´s movement and to other historically oppressed social groups is a necessary practice for building collaborative and equitable partnerships. For MenEngage, being accountable means:

• Being critically aware of one’s own power and privilege;

• Being open to constructive criticism;

• Being responsible for one’s actions;

• Following through on commitments;

• Taking action to address practices, behaviors or beliefs that go against the MenEngage Core Principles;

• Openly acknowledging any harm caused, and developing and implementing solutions to make amends.

Accountability therefore requires the development of a receptive capacity in men and others who have been placed in positions of power and privilege so that they can listen to the perspectives and demands of oppressed groups in order to become authentic allies. Accountability and partnership building also require us to engage in respectful dialogues, and a willingness to constantly address issues and concerns raised by our partners.

We hope that this blog series contributes to these ongoing conversations and serves as another platform to share useful resources for partnership building and tools for putting into practice our accountability commitments.