Media Release
INTERNATIONAL MEN’S DAY SATURDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2016
Great Britain’s Female Prime Minister says Men Need Their Day
The Prime Minister of Great Britain, the Right Honourable Theresa May, has voiced her support for a global celebration of men and boys on International Men’s Day (IMD), which takes place on Saturday 19 November.
The British PM has said that the serious issues that International Men’s Day seeks to highlight, such as men’s health, boys’ educational performance and global epidemic of male suicide, need to be given serious consideration.
Launched in 1999 and celebrated in around 80 countries worldwide, the global day of observance has achieved a new landmark this year by being a granted a debate in the Houses of Commons in London (held on Thursday 17 November) where politicians considered some of the key issues facing men and boys.
During the debate, one of Mrs May’s supporters, Philip Davies MP, read out a letter of support from the Prime Minister saying: “I recognise the important issues that this event seeks to highlight, including men’s health, male suicide rates and the underperformance of boys in schools, these are serious issues that must be addressed in a considered way.”
Dr Jerome Teelucksingh from Trinidad & Tobago, who is the founder of International Men’s Day, responded to the news of the debate saying: “We commend the UK PM for being progressive in her thinking on men and boys’ issues. We hope the British parliament’s forward thinking on gender issues will inspire other countries to follow their example. Let us all continue to highlight the issues that men and boys face for the greater good of all humanity.”
This year, International Men’s Day coincides with International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day. To help the world mark these two observance days, the day’s global co-ordinators are inviting men and women to take action to “Stop Male Suicide”, which is the theme for the day.
Warwick Marsh the Coordinator for www.internationalmensday.com said. “It’s a shocking fact that around the world, one man a minute dies by suicide with men and boys being twice as likely to die by suicide as women and girls. That’s not just a statistic, that’s somebody’s son, husband, brother, father or friend dying and we can and must do more to save these men’s lives.”
Glen Poole, UK Co-ordinator for IMD and author of the new book “You Can Stop Male Suicide” said: “The purpose of International Men’s Day is to get the world talking about men, manhood and men’s issues. There’s no greater men’s issues facing the world today than male suicide. Our politicians have done us proud this year by getting the conversation and we’d like to invite the world to join us in talking about male suicide this International Men’s Day.”
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Dr Jerome Teelucksingh: 1 868 222 2707
Warwick Marsh: 61 418 225 212 www.internationalmensday.com
