Men for Gender Equality Now (MEGEN)

MEGEN runs a number of programmes in its effort to stop sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV):

• Rapid Response: This programme offers support services to survivors of sexual and gender violence, directly or through referrals. The team also engages in lobbying and advocacy work to effect a greater impact beyond assisting individual survivors. During and after the post-election period of early 2008, when SGBV-related cases were widespread, individual members of the Rapid Response Team worked as volunteers in internally displaced people's camps, assisting survivors of SGBV with reporting cases and accessing treatment, as well as providing counselling. From its formation in 2004 up to June 2008, the Rapid Response Team had handled 200 cases of violence against women, out of which 100 have been concluded in favour of the survivor, 30 have been dismissed for lack of evidence, and 70 are still in court.
• Men's Travelling Conference (MTC): During the 16 Days of Activism on Gender Violence, November 25 - December 10, MEGEN holds an annual travelling conference. The MTC is a conference on-the-move, through which hundreds of men and women activists from MEGEN and partner organisations in Kenya and elsewhere travel to remote towns and villages by bus, encouraging grassroots men and women, local leaders, and law enforcement officers to take action against SGBV. MEGEN uses participatory methods such as community theatre, facilitated group discussions, training seminars, and one-on-one dialogue at central points like marketplaces to encourage the end of social acceptance of SGBV.
• Training Programme: The MEGEN Gender Training Programme was set up in 2004. According to the organisers, the MEGEN Gender Training Team is heavily male-dominated because of MEGEN's special mandate to reach men. The trainers use case studies, videos, digital stories, frameworks of analysis, and personal experience in the training sessions. Some of the key training methods MEGEN uses are community sensitisation workshops, which are primarily held in communities where the organisation has a membership base.
• Artist Programme: The artist team develops skits, songs, and other forms of drama to visualise the issues MEGEN seeks to address: unequal power relations between men and women, gender-based violence, and HIV and AIDS. During outreach activities in communities, in seminars, and workshops, the artist team performs skits based on the prevailing gender and violence situation in that community. They also do ambush-theatre on the streets and in marketplaces, followed by guided discussions on the topics covered.
• Resource Mobilisation: The Resource Mobilisation Programme deals with fundraising and offers competitive consultancy services for organisations and corporate bodies. Depending on the needs of specific corporate bodies, MEGEN develops gender policies in the workplace and trains members on gender issues and transforming masculinities.
• Media and Communication: Through tools like posters, branding of buses, stickers, t-shirts, and brochures, MEGEN has tried to communicate non-judgmental messages which seek to provoke thinking and reflection among men, women, youth, and/or policymakers.

Gender

MEGEN was started in 2001 by the African Women's Development and Communication Network (FEMNET). In 2009, MEGEN was established as an independent organisation.