The event started on Sunday with a pre-National Men’s Parliamentary Session. The official launch of the first National Men’s Parliament coincides with International Men’s Day which is observed annually on the 19th of November, since 1992.

The theme of the first National Men’s Parliament is “Institutionalising a Responsive Men’s Movement.” The Movement seeks to among things, to tackle gender based violence and various forms of social ills affecting society and the vulnerable. On Sunday, the Gender Summit Steering Committee’s Mmabatho Ramagoshi said women continue to carry the burden of maintaining children.

She told the media in Parliament that there are many men in government who are not paying for maintenance.