Family council pays tribute to all men in society |19 November 2014

The chairman of the National Family Council of Seychelles Robert Moumou has paid tribute to all men in society in a message on the occasion of the International Men’s Day today.

Mr Moumou’s message reads:
“Almost every day men and boys who are films, sports and music stars are honoured and highly appreciated while the everyday working class men who are living decent, honest lives are almost forgotten and not highly valued.

“Today as we join the world to commemorate the International Men’s Day, let us appreciate and celebrate the roles and contribution of all the men and the boys in the different spheres of our lives such as our schools, families, work and the society. That is why the National Family Council of Seychelles, the Gender Secretariat of the Ministry of Social Affairs and its partners has decided to host a national Men’s Award. We want to put to the fore such men as positive role models and appreciate them for their contribution in our society. We also want to encourage all men and boys who are being responsible in conduct and roles as sons, husbands and fathers to continue in order to bring honour to manhood in Seychelles.

“Such a day is also essential to allow us to consider the plight of men in society vis a vis the challenges they face every day. Statistical figures show that the life expectancy of men in Seychelles is 69 years compared to 76 years for women. Men feature as the top gender for suicide, drug dependencies, HIV/Aids and other sexually transmitted disease in Seychelles. They are also the top perpetrators of family violence and abuses. The boys are the top gender for poor school performance and drop-outs while the men make up three-quarters of the prison population. Those few indicators clearly show that this is not about a competition between the two genders but an obvious need for targeted approaches and action to address such an important section of our population.

The challenge before us is not insurmountable and irreversible. Let us start by individually becoming the change we want to see today. A reverse trend in such tendencies will highly benefit our women and girls and our society.
“A Happy International Men’s Day.”