International Men’s Day Men team up to re-launch action group |18 November 2017

As the world prepares to celebrate the International Men’s Day tomorrow, a group of brave Seychellois men have met with a hard task ahead ‒ regroup and re-launch an action group.

“The absence of fathers and male role models in many homes in Seychelles is related to different social ills, especially among children, such as misbehaviour and maltreatments,” says Jean-Claude Matombe, the chief executive of the National Council for Children (NCC).

He says this will be one of the priorities for the Council in 2018.

The meeting, held yesterday at the NCC head office at Bel Eau, was attended by a handful of brave men and follows a first meeting a few weeks earlier which was attended by the chairperson of the Association of Fathers Promoting Responsible Parenthood, Marvin Fanny.

Mr Fanny’s attendance at the meeting was to find support to re-launch the association which started almost 15 years ago and which has been dormant for a while.

“I would like to see the association rise up again and be active and help men improve and excel in their role as fathers,” stated Mr Fanny during the meeting.

Following both meetings, those present expressed interest in creating an action group with the aim of making the association and other groups targeting men in the community and in the country as a whole, become stronger and more visible.

With a goal of engaging everyone in intervening effectively for children, NCC is spearheading the call for more men to come forward and join the initiative.

Studies have shown that the absence of fathers or father-figure can affect the psychological development of children and Mr Matombe says that child protection services and agencies must address this gap.

A parenting session targeting fathers and men will be held on November 23 and for more details readers can contact NCC on 4283900.

Contributed by NCC