Men's Travelling Conference/Conference Itinerante des Hommes--Men's Travelling Conference.

• Position: MEN FOR GENDER EQUALITY NOW (MEGEN

In observing the annual Sixteen days of Activism (25t" November--10th December 2006), the Men for Gender Equality Now (MEGEN) members conducted a successful Men's Travelling Conference (MTC) which took three routes to Western, Central and Coast Kenya. A total of eighty-five participants from Kenya, Uganda and Malawi took part in the five days activity. Seventy-five were Kenyans (forty-five men and thirty women), 6 Malawians (two women and four men) and four Ugandan men who were all divided into three teams.

The MTC was officially launched on 28th November 2006 at Uhuru Park Nairobi by Kenya's Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information and Communication, Dr. Bitange Ndemo who was representing the Minister Hon. Mutahi Kagwe. In attendance were partners from Coalition on Violence Against Women (COVAW), pupils from MYTO Junior Academy, Ruthigiti and Kagira primary schools and members of Waithaka Youth Association who recited poems and performed short drama in line with the theme of event, "young women have a right to dignity, safety, voice and power".

In each of the three stop-overs, the team leaders paid a courtesy call to the provincial administration officers (Chiefs, District Officers (DO) and District Commissioners (DC) and law enforcement agencies in all the district and provincial headquarters along the route. The objective was to build alliance with the provincial administrators at district and provincial levels so as to share MEGEN's work and explore avenues for future cooperation. It was also important to seek support from the law enforcement agencies to hold activities in their areas of jurisdiction, particularly to provide security for the team just in case of hostility.

In addition, to increase community participation in the various activities, artists were invited to conceal their identity and stage a mock 'fight' between a man and a woman. Anyone from the community who made attempts to stop the 'fight' was acknowledged by the MEGEN team and was awarded a gift in form of a t-shirt and other materials. Facilitators would then step in to give an "experts" perspective on GBV and HIV/AIDs and engage the community in a question and answer session where the people with the correct answer would be given T shirts and other materials as gifts. To crown it all, the MEGEN team distributed to the communities Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials in form of posters, brochures, T shirts and stickers.

This year with...