International Men’s Day is celebrated across the globe on November 19. It was founded in 1999 by Dr Jerome Teelucksingh, who was a history professor at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad & Tobago.
The theme for
International Men's Day 2019 is "Making A Difference For Men And Boys". The theme focuses on the need to value men and boys and enable people to make improvements in the areas of health and well-being of men's and boys.
As per the official website of International Men’s Day, the demand for a day to celebrate men began around 1960, as an equivalent to International Women’s Day on March 8. The New York Times even reported on February 24, 1969, that “Many men have been agitating privately to make February 23 International Men’s Day.” Finally, after several years of planning, November 19 was finally officiated as International Men’s Day.
As per the website, there are six objectives of IMD:
> To promote positive male role models
> To celebrate men’s positive contributions to society
>To focus on men’s health and wellbeing
> To highlight discrimination against men
> To improve gender relations and promote gender equality
->To create a safer, better world
Indian men's advocate Uma Challa, who is also a single mother of two, introduced this concept in India in 2007. She was unaware how the date of IMD had come into being, but believed that men need to be celebrated after being exposed to incidents of shocking male abuse in the country.