Columbia International Affairs Online: Working Papers

CIAO DATE: 01/2014

The Other Side of Gender: Men as Critical Agents of Change

Joseph Vess, Gary Barker, Sanam Naraghi-Anderlini, Alexa Hassink

December 2013

United States Institute of Peace

Abstract

Better understanding of how experiences in war change men’s roles and identities can lead to better interventions to help men deal with the trauma of war violence, to combat gender-based violence, and equip men as agents of peace in their postconflict communities. Based on their review of existing work to help men in postconflict settings, five leading experts recommend a multipronged approach to expand programming and conduct rigorous evaluation to determine which programs are most effective.