he Ministry of Equality’s ‘Breaking Barriers’ conference to mark International Men’s Day on 19th November was a resounding success.

The conference, which was over-subscribed, saw representation from the public and private sectors, from charitable organizations and from the public. It focused on positive role models and men’s mental health.

The conference began with an address by the Minister for Equality, Christian Santos, who spoke about the importance of challenging limiting gender norms and the importance of de-stigmatizing mental health issues.

The first panel discussion, ‘The Power of Positive Role Models’, which was facilitated by David Revagliatte, showcased the ‘60 Miles for Movember’ campaign and the work carried out by Cye-Cyl. Panelists for ‘60 Miles for Movember’ Issac Vinet and Gabriel Benatar spoke about the origins, aims and impact of their campaign and Morgan Brown from Cye-Cyl spoke about their work around young people’s well-being and personal development.

The conference also featured personal testimony around mental health issues and sought active audience participation through the use of a live poll. The GHA’s Mobile Health Unit was present outside the Sunborn offering ‘Well Male’ Health checks to attendees upon the closure of the event.

The second panel discussion, ‘Promoting Better Mental Health Support for Men in the Workplace and Beyond’ was moderated by GBC CEO James Neish and featured HMGoG’s Senior Wellbeing Support Officer Sean Keating, GibSams Trustee Kerstin Andlaw, and Steven Sanchez whose testimony was captured by a video.

The keynote address was delivered by David Bartlett, Senior Fellow at Equimundo, a US-based non-profit organization. He is an independent consultant, trainer, policy analyst, and researcher with 30 years’ experience working to promote gender equality and masculinities in families, communities and workplaces. David is Project Lead for Equimundo’s Global Boyhood Initiative in the UK, working with UK charity Lifting Limits to develop innovative approaches to engaging with all young children to promote gender equality and challenge limiting gender stereotypes. David co-founded and worked for many years with the Fatherhood Institute, the UK’s fatherhood think-tank, and has worked as Chief Executive of the UK White Ribbon Campaign, and National Director of the Good Lad Initiative (now Beyond Equality).

Minister for Equality, Employment, Culture and Tourism, the Hon Christian Santos GMD MP, said: “We have marked International Men’s Day by focusing on positive role models and meaningful conversations around men’s mental health. Through the ‘Breaking Barriers’ conference, I am confident we have met my Ministry’s aim of sharing the message of normalising these topics, and that the attendees will take these key messages back to their homes, workplaces and wider social groups. My thanks to our moderators and panelists for giving of their time and personal experiences and to keynote speaker David Bartlett for his fascinating insights around gender and social norms.”