THE 2018 OBSERVANCE HIGHLIGHTS THE POSITIVE VALUE MEN BRING TO THEIR FAMILIES AND COMMUNITIES.

The Saint Lucia Crisis Centre opened its annual observance of International Men’s Day on Sunday, Nov. 18 with a church service at the Castries Methodist Church. A special call was made for men and boys to attend.

International Men’s Day is celebrated annually on Nov. 19. The 2018 theme, “Positive Male Role Models”, highlights the positive value men bring to the world, their families and communities. By celebrating these positive role models and focusing on the health of men and boys, it is hoped that there will be a continuous thrust to improve gender relations, promote gender equality, and appreciate positive male role models. Men are encouraged to take an honest look at themselves and evaluate where they are, where they would like to be and how they can get there.

International Men’s Day was initiated in 1992 by Thomas Oaster. The observance was revived in Trinidad and Tobago in 1999 by Dr. Jerome Teelucksingh. Dr. Teelucksingh, who revived the event, chose Nov. 19 to honour his father's birthday and also to celebrate how on that date in 1989, Trinidad and Tobago's soccer team had united the country with their endeavours to qualify for the soccer world cup.

Dr Teelucksingh has promoted International Men's Day as not just a gendered day, but a day where all issues affecting men and boys can be addressed. He has said of IMD and its grass roots activists: "They are striving for gender equality and patiently attempt to remove the negative images and the stigma associated with men in our society."

The longest running celebration of International Men's Day is in Malta, where events have occurred since Feb. 7, 1994.