Despite the proven role that fathers, alongside mothers, play for children’s well-rounded development, evidence in many countries shows lower engagement by men in care responsibilities and a lack of enabling conditions to support their sustained engagement.

This webinar introduced the Engaging Men in Nurturing Care multi-country initiative, which is aimed at influencing the policy discourse and practices at home and in services in three cities in Italy, Portugal and Spain. Simultaneously, the initiative engages in national and European policy discourses about gender equity and shared responsibilities in informal care, aiming to champion city level interventions targeting policy makers, multi-sectoral professionals, pre- and in-service providers, fathers and father-to-be, and employers in a comprehensive approach towards creating enabling and supportive environments for father engagement.

The webinar tackled pressing questions, including:

• What barriers hinder men from embracing caregiving roles?
• Which policies are essential for amplifying men's participation in caregiving? And is policy-making alone sufficient?
• What are effective ways to influence caregiving practices at home?

Panellists from Observatory of Masculinities – Center of Social Studies (CES) in Portugal, Centro per la Salute del Bambino - Centre for Child Health (CSB) in Italy, CONEXUS in Spain, shared their expertise and insights on the current country contexts and discussed what the interventions and capacity building programs focus on, with moderation by ISSA Program Director, Dr Mihaela Ionescu.

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