International Men's Day is set aside to recognize and celebrate men's various achievements and contributions worldwide. It is celebrated annually on November 19th and was first celebrated in 1999. International Men's Day is also a day set aside to collaborate towards achieving shared objectives applied equally to men and boys irrespective of age, ability, social background, ethnicity, sexuality, gender identity, religious belief, and relationship status

It is celebrated annually on November 19th and was first celebrated in 1999. Each year, the theme emphasizes the six significant pillars of International Men's Day, which are: To promote male role models, to celebrate the contribution that men make, to focus on men's health and wellbeing, to highlight discrimination against men the inequalities that men and boys face, to improve gender relations and promote gender equality, and to create a safer world for everyone.

1. To Promote Male Role Models: Life as we know it is not exactly a bed of roses; therefore, it is essential to take out time on days like this to promote male figures that can be relatable and healthy role models for young boys/men to look up to for guidance through life.
   
   This is also known as Mentoring and is highly essential, especially during their development phase. This is the phase where they can make critical decisions that may affect their lives without guidance or strong positive influence


2. To celebrate men's contribution: Thomas Edison invented the first commercially successful light bulb, Michael Faraday invented Electric Motors, Alexander Graham Bell invented the first practical telephone, etc. The list of innovations by men is endless. International men's day recognizes, highlights, and celebrates the importance of men and their various inventions and contributions.


3. To focus on men's health and wellbeing: There are various myths and misconceptions about the health and wellbeing of men, surrounding issues like prostate cancer, infertility, hereditary health issues, even skin issues, etc. One of the objectives of International men's day is to create awareness for health issues that are pertaining to men while debunking the various myths surrounding men's health and wellbeing


4. To highlight discrimination against men, and the inequalities that men and boys face: "You are not man enough," "You don't act like a man," "You are too weak to be a man," etc. Daily, men are brought down with words and face discrimination in various forms. International men's day is an opportunity to call attention to these discriminations and suggest solutions to end them.


5. To improve gender relations and promote gender equality: This year's International Men's Day theme. For the longest time, gender inequality has been a real issue globally. There have been many conversations surrounding how to bridge the gender gap and improve gender relations across various sectors, including the industry sector. (Read here on ways to make room for women in the industry sector). Another objective of International men's day is to hold even more conversations that can birth solutions to improve gender relations and attain gender equality.


6. To create a safer world for everyone: The last objective of International Men's Day is to create a safer world for men, women, the children they birth, and every other person around them. The world gets more insecure daily, and it is up to us to take up being our brother's keeper as a collective responsibility to ensure a safer world. At Tech4Dev, we play our part by ensuring that through our various programs, we attempt to improve people's standard of living and keep them away from a life of crime by equipping them with digital skills that are essential in the workplace.
   
   On this particular day, we want to wish our male volunteers, beneficiaries, staff, and partners that support us on our social impact journey a Happy International Men's Day.