International Men’s Day 2020: Significance and history of day focussing on health, well-being of male population

To celebrate the contributions and achievements of men and boys towards the nation, society and community at large, International Men’s Day is observed every year on 19 November. International Men’s Day was introduced in 1992 on 7 February by Thomas Oaster and was revived by Jerome Teelucksing who chose 19 November to honour his father’s birthday. He also chose to celebrate the day on 19 November as on this date in 1989 Trinidad and Tobago’s football team had united the country to qualify for the World Cup. In India, the International Men’s Day was first celebrated in the year 2007 by the leading men’s rights organisation India Family. The theme for International Men’s Day 2020 is “ Better health for men and boys”. The theme this year focuses on improvement and enhancement of health and wellbeing of the male population across the world. The objective to celebrate International Men’s Day is to create awareness about men’s mental health and to look into the important aspects of their life such as social, emotional, physical and spiritual. The day also highlights discrimination against men and the need to work towards improvement of gender relations and equality. It also is celebrated to create awareness about causes related to men’s mental and physical health. Sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik shared his sand art at Puri beach in Odisha on the occasion of International Men’s Day.

Today Is #InternationalMensDay One of My SandArt at puri beach in Odisha. pic.twitter.com/RpJRKnn7KA

— Sudarsan Pattnaik (@sudarsansand) November 19, 2020

Yash Raj Films shared pictures of actors and wrote, “Thank you for being our strength and a constant. Happy #InternationalMensDay.”

Thank you for being our strength & a constant. Happy #InternationalMensDay pic.twitter.com/T9dtIf4nfV

— Yash Raj Films (@yrf) November 19, 2020

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Former Indian batsman Suresh Raina said that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought changes in lifestyle and responsibilities of men. The cricketer said that before the pandemic, men never spent so much time in the family trenches. He also said that on this International Men’s Day, there is a need to envision men as active co-parents, who are not just “helpers” in parenting but also an equal-half, who take up equal responsibilities.