Father A Nation is a registered Non-Profit Company and Public Benefit Organisation. We have been working with boys and men across South Africa since 2010, teaching and inspiring them to live with positive, healthy masculinity and to stand against abuse of any kind.

The rate of rape, gender-based violence (GBV), violent crime, corruption and fatherlessness in South Africa is catastrophic. The country is crying out for solutions and increasingly both men and women are desperate to get involved in the solution - but often don’t know how. Simply creating awareness is not enough. To reduce and ultimately eliminate gender-based violence and other forms of destructive behaviour we need to first understand why it is happening and then we need to put in place action-oriented interventions which effectively address the root causes.

Father A Nation (FAN) has made great strides in both these areas: identifying why GBV is happening and developing programmes and interventions to prevent it from happening.

Our range of programmes, material and interventions which directly address the dire issue of gender-based violence, fatherlessness and destructive masculinity include:

1. Workshops held either virtually or physically at colleges, community centres, schools, and organisations in the public and private sector.
2. Free online courses in four different languages covering positive masculinity as well as understanding and overcoming GBV. The courses contain video and reading material, exercises and quizzes.
3. Booklets and training manuals covering GBV, fatherhood and positive masculinity which can be branded and customised.
4. Community based events ranging from sporting events to street activations and community hall gatherings. All are aimed at equipping, inspiring and mobilising men to action.
5. Mentorship programmes involving community-based mentors actively engaged in mentoring and running conversations with men in their communities.
6. Transformational conversations with men in communities in small, facilitated groups called Bands of Brothers. These groups have proved life changing for many men and life saving for both men and women.
7. Corporate training and webinars for staff on understanding and overcoming GBV at home, in communities and in the workplace.
8. School interventions to teach boys the principles of positive, healthy masculinity.

Our programmes are based on a number of key principles and insights:

• Healthy masculinity is a powerful force for good.
• The solution to toxic masculinity is healthy masculinity.
• Teaching men true, positive, healthy masculinity goes a long way towards filling the gaping hole left by a lack of fathers, mentors and masculine role models.
• Equipping men to be good, present and engaged fathers is key to raising good men.
• Men need to stand up and take responsibility to end GBV.
• Providing a safe platform for men to talk can and does save lives.

FAN’s programmes have impacted tens of thousands of men and their families throughout South Africa. We have worked with men in schools, colleges, universities, companies, communities, government departments, parastatals and many civic and community organisations. We have seen men tearfully admit to abusing their partners, neglecting their children and even in one case planning murder. And we have seen these men commit to changing their ways and being good partners, husbands, fathers and community members.

The ultimate goal is to fan into flame an unstoppable national movement of positive, healthy masculinity which will sweep across all sectors of society to create a society in which boys and men are inspired and taught to use their strength for good; in which present and engaged fathers is the norm; and in which women are free to live their lives fully and fearlessly.

Join Father A Nation on this quest to raise a great nation free of GBV.