In June 2026, the UNDP Executive Board approved the Gender Equality Strategy 2026–2029. Its central proposition is that gender equality is ultimately a question of rebalancing power: alongside the formal barriers embedded in laws and institutions, the Strategy targets the discriminatory norms that shape what women and men are able to do and be – including attitudes to care work, women's leadership, asset ownership and digital participation. To shift them, it commits UNDP to work with governments to engage men and boys, and to collaborate with educators, faith leaders, media and youth networks.

That commitment raises an important question: what do we already know about what works when engaging men? At a time when many countries are grappling with backlash against gender equality and persistent harmful gender norms, what can we learn from the evidence?

Quite a lot, as it turns out. At the end of 2024, the UNDP Independent Evaluation Office published a Reflections piece on masculinities and mobilizing men for gender equality, synthesizing evidence from 58 evaluations and case studies by UNDP, UN Women and UNFPA alongside a wider body of research. Written before the Strategy, it reads like an ideal companion to it.

What helps change behavior

Men’s participation in gender equality work is relatively new. Gender equality programming has traditionally targeted women alone, and United Nations agencies have only more recently built male participation into their design. When those designs were sound and well implemented, these initiatives helped reduce violence against women and girls at home and in communities. They also opened pathways for women to make their own reproductive choices, access equal opportunities in education, and participate fully in public, economic and political life.

“Before, I behaved like gia trưởng [a patriarch] and abused my wife verbally. I used to beat my kids when they did not do well at school. Now, I manage to control my temper.” admits Văn Hùng, 55, a resident of Da Nang, Viet Nam.¹

Văn Hùng completed the Male Advocate Programme, a project run by the United Nations and local partners. Through group discussions and peer mentoring, the project helped men overcome habits such as controlling others, using violence and treating women as inferior – behaviours many now describe as toxic masculinity.

Beyond the individual

Although harmful attitudes and behaviour are often discussed at the individual level, they rarely originate there. These behaviours are typically shaped by broader societal dynamics, including economic inequality, poverty, political grievances, trauma, loneliness, mental health challenges and substance abuse.

Where these underlying drivers go unaddressed, harmful attitudes and practices can be difficult to shift. This is why initiatives such as Stepping Stones/Creating Futures – implemented in Myanmar, Nepal and Tajikistan – paired discussions on communication skills and family relationships with income-generating support. By helping ease economic pressures, these programmes contributed to reductions in domestic violence.

Research on the conflicts of the 1990s in the Western Balkans also found that war contributed to the spread of more aggressive and violent forms of masculinity and altered social norms around rape and everyday sexism.

Successful projects have also leveraged men's groups that often carry negative reputations. Clubs, associations and networks can provide safe spaces for men to critically reflect on their own understanding of manhood while building healthier, more respectful and equitable relationships.

In Mali, for example, the Spotlight Initiative's “Model Husbands Clubs” raised awareness of women's and children's rights and, in some communities, helped reduce domestic violence and child marriage by fostering dialogue, active listening and mutual respect.

Engaging trusted leaders and role models is another powerful mechanism for change. Behavioural scientists refer to this as the “messenger effect”: people are more likely to reconsider their views when messages come from someone they respect.

Effective campaigns have partnered with sports figures, musicians and community elders to model respectful behaviour and condemn violence against women. In Viet Nam, for example, senior Communist Party members were recruited to champion the Male Advocate Programme, helping spread its messages and open doors within communities.

The faith factor

Religious and traditional leaders can play a significant role in shifting norms across entire communities. Faith-based allies can also help ground gender equality messages in locally meaningful values and traditions.

In Kosovo, the United Nations partnered with Orthodox and Muslim clergy to condemn conflict-related sexual violence from their pulpits and public platforms. In several Arab States, projects drew on stories from the life of the Prophet Muhammad to promote messages of respect and dignity.

Yet religious authorities are not always advocates for gender equality. In Liberia and Uganda, some opposed laws criminalizing female genital mutilation and violence against women. In Egypt, an initiative addressing sexual harassment struggled to engage religious leaders because some viewed women themselves as responsible for the problem.

These experiences highlight the importance of approaching engagement with religious leaders carefully, patiently and with a strong understanding of local context.

Fatherhood as an entry point

Engaging men as fathers can be an attractive strategy because it approaches them positively – as caregivers and family members rather than potential perpetrators of harmful behaviour.

In Georgia, the active fatherhood campaign “Daddy, Read Me a Book” featured celebrity fathers reading to their children and encouraging others to do the same. The initiative became so popular that it continued even after United Nations support ended.

In several countries, fatherhood campaigns have also helped secure support from more conservative governments while reducing the risk of backlash.

However, fatherhood-centred approaches also carry risks. They may leave deeper patriarchal power structures unchallenged or overlook issues such as male guardianship and assumptions that men are entitled to control women. Critics have also noted that such campaigns can unintentionally reinforce the idea that heterosexual, two-parent families are the norm while marginalizing single-parent households.

When engagement falls short

Engaging men and boys in gender equality efforts does not automatically produce meaningful change. Stories like Văn Hùng's demonstrate that transformation is possible when the right conditions are in place. The broader evidence, however, shows how easy it is to miss those conditions.

Without genuinely redistributing resources, opportunities and power, well-intentioned programmes can reinforce the very inequalities they seek to address. In Egypt, for example, an initiative that engaged male tuk-tuk drivers to help protect women from harassment succeeded in reducing incidents of violence. However, it also inadvertently reinforced paternalistic attitudes and the idea that women require male protection.

Male-focused initiatives can also divert funding and attention from hard-won spaces created for women and girls. In some cases, the needs of male participants begin to take precedence over the priorities and experiences of the women the programmes were originally designed to support.

As harmful masculinities gain political momentum in many parts of the world, the stakes for getting this right could not be higher.

¹ Not his real name.