Admitting that a large percentage of men have dropped the ball and in effect have failed to adequately take up their responsibility, President Irfaan Ali on Friday challenged the nation’s men and boys to join forces to collectively tackle the issues confronting them, as he launched ‘Men on a Mission.’

‘Men on a Mission’ forms part of the larger 1000 Men Initiative.

Addressing a wide cross-section of men at the launch event, President Ali was the first to admit that the challenges confronting men and boys are complex, and cannot be addressed individually, but rather as a collective. 

“Unless we are able to build systems through which we could support each other, through which we can uplift each other, through which we can integrate better with each other, through which we can celebrate each other, we will be doing nothing more than building a selfish community rather than a self-less community,” the President said.

He said in many instances, women are left to shoulder the responsibilities of raising their children and managing their homes single handily as men have dropped the ball.

“We as men, we have dropped the ball. We have dropped the ball in community, in families, in society. Today, it is about us picking up back that ball, and supporting the women and ensuring that they are given that equal shoulder to take the burden and responsibility of creating a beautiful nation,” he said.

He said the first step to confronting the challenges, is acceptance, and a commitment to do better.

“We say to them [our women] today that we understand that we have let you down, that we understand that we have not shouldered our responsibility as we should,” he said.

The President said while some men have shouldered their responsibility tremendously, the reality is a percentage of the nation’s men have fallen short of their responsibility, and their actions may very well have rippling effects that could be felt throughout society.

He said the mission is largely intended to create a network that would allow for men to be supportive of each other and at all levels.

“That is what the mission is about. It is about shouldering that responsibility; it is about demonstrating a collective will to act. It is about demonstrating a collective understanding of the problem and it is about demonstrating a collective idea or creating a new system, an institution that support a modern society that is built on foundation will see no longer in the headlines violence against women and children,” he said.

According to Mr. Ali, the violence exhibited by some men is a ‘deadly mark of the devil,’ and it is important for all men to “dig deep inside of us, and remove those dark evil forces that allow us not to be the best we can be.”

But men, he said, are not only to be blamed, noting that various institutions including religious bodies have let men down and in some instances, have stigmatized them.

The President said many men are struggling with their mental health, and have lost confidence in their selves. This, he posited, is reflected in the education system.

He said when compared to women, fewer men are advancing their education – a trend he said is worrying.

In painting a vivid picture of the situation, the President pointed out that between 2017 and 2022, the University of Guyana enrolled between 24% and 36% of male students.  Further, over a five-year period, only 16,294 men enrolled at the University against a student population of more than 45,000.

“We as men will be failing our societies, failing our communities, if we believe that education is not important, if we believe we don’t have a responsibility to educate ourselves. If we don’t have a responsibility, to advance our learning ability, we would be failing ourselves, we would be failing our families, and we will be failing our communities, and we need to address this as an urgent matter,” he reasoned.

He pointed out further that the school-drop out rate is worrying with more boys than girls dropping out of school – a situation he said will be addressed in a holistic manner.

President Ali said it is time to change the way men are portrayed in society. He said it is not okay to merely highlight the challenges and not to anything them but rather to provide permanent solutions that would allow men and boys to contribute meaningfully to society.

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