You’re Invited! The Making of REAL Men: Involving Men in Violence Prevention

The Responsible, Engaged, and Loving (REAL) Fathers Initiative is a mentoring program designed to build positive parenting practices and relationship skills among young fathers (16-25 years) in post-conflict northern Uganda. REAL consists of a mentoring program and community awareness campaign to reach young men before their expectations, attitudes, and behaviors related to parenting and relationships are well established. In order to address underlying causes of domestic violence, the intervention is designed to challenge gender norms that often trigger violence in relationships and to teach effective parenting, communication, and problem-solving skills. This presentation will highlight key short and longer term effects of REAL and discuss next steps for testing expansion in northern Uganda and Karamoja. REAL is implemented by Georgetown University’s Institute for Reproductive Health, in partnership with Save the Children and funded by the Office of Population and Reproductive Health’s Research, Technology and Utilization division.