UNITED NATIONS
Michael Kaufman, Ph.D. has worked with UN agencies including UNICEF (New York, Kathmandu, Innocenti); UNESCO (Paris, Nairobi, Oslo); UNDP (New York); UNFPA (New York, Ankara, Tbilisi); UN WOMEN/UNIFEM/INSTRAW (Beijing, Delhi, New York, Santo Domingo); OCHA (Geneva); IFAD (Rome).
He provides three types of services to the United Nations:
- Programming, training & consulting: Consulting, internal training, and resource development to create positive and successful strategies to end violence against women and promote gender equality, in particular through the engagement of men and boys.
- Public conferences & training: Focused on ending violence against women and promoting gender equality and human rights for women through the engagement of men and boys.
- Internal training to end harassment: Innovative training with UN staff and managers to prevent (and respond to) sexual harassment, personalharassment, and abuse of authority, and to promote gender sensitivity and gender equality. He developed the training programme for UNESCO and he wrote the on-line training programme for the UN Development Group.
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1. PROGRAMMING & TRAINING TO ENGAGE MEN AND BOYS TO END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN, TO PROMOTE GENDER EQUALITY, AND TO TRANSFORM THE LIVES OF BOYS AND MEN
If we don’t reach men and boys, we won’t stop violence against women nor will our efforts to achieve gender equality be successful. Michael Kaufman was among the first men to advocate within the UN system that we need initiatives to engage men and boys as part of a framework of promoting the interests, and fulfilling the human rights, of women and girls.
When it comes to ending violence against women, we know that, in many countries, most men have never been violent against women, but most men have remained silent about this terrible problem. When it comes to promoting gender equality, research tells us that the values of individual men are often out of synch with the perceived, socially-sanctioned norms of gender inequality; but how do we encourage those men to speak up in support of equality?
How can the UN system work with governments, non-governmental agencies, and others to develop comprehensive programs to involve men and boys? How do we reach men at the workplace, in the community, in religious institutions? How do we involve boys in schools? And how do we ensure that the results of such efforts work to enhance the lives of women and girls?
Michael Kaufman draws on his experience as co-founder of the White Ribbon Campaign, the largest effort in the world of men working to end violence against women. He draws on his own educational and consulting work in fifty countries, as well as on his own research and past academic work (in which he was Deputy Director of the Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean at York University in Toronto.)
His efforts with UN agencies is to help them better imagine and articulate their programming in these areas. It has involved internal training and the development of documents and policy proposals.
For more information, please contact Michael Kaufman at 
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2. PUBLIC CONFERENCES AND TRAINING WORKSHOPS
UN agencies have engaged Michael Kaufman to speak at public conferences, conduct public workshops, and do training of partner organizations. As well, he has worked with the UN to advise government officials. His focus has been ending violence against women and promoting gender equality and human rights for women through the engagement of men and boys.
In some cases, his training involves a diverse program that includes speaking at public conferences, smaller workshops, media events, and consultation with officials. For example:
- During one ten day period in Sweden, he gave talks and led day-long workshops for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Red Cross, the Stockholm police, a private sector leadership organization, a country-wide men’s network, and one municipality.
- During a week in China, he spoke at a large conference, did seminars at universities, held a seminar for journalists, appeared in the media, and met with NGOs.
- In Namibia, he helped design and led the first national training conference for men from communities across the country.
- In Turkey, he conducted a one-day training conference for deputy-ministers of health, social services, and security from each of the countries 81 provinces and, during his visits, has also conducted smaller, more intensive two-day workshops as well as did training for the private sector.
- During two weeks in Italy, he did an eight-city tour organized by municipalities and women’s NGOs where he spoke in schools, did teacher training, spoke to city councils and, along with city officials, did media appearances.
- On tours sponsored by UN agencies and/or national, state, or local governments in Japan, Latvia, Estonia, South Korea, and Singapore, for example, he has carried out diverse programs that often included speaking at conferences, one- or two-day workshops, media appearances, and meetings with policy makers.
In his talks to conferences and meetings, Michael Kaufman draws on his roots in storytelling, his scholarly research, and his work around the world to weave together humor, stories, and clear analysis for an event that is educational and entertaining, positive and inspiring.
Topics include:
- We Can End Violence Against Women! and Engaging Men and Boys to End Violence Against Women. Far too many women face a grave threat each and every day. How can we end physical, sexual, and emotional violence against women? This talk, drawing on Michael Kaufman’s pioneering work around the world and his role as co-founder of the White Ribbon Campaign, analyzes the root causes of this violence and charts an optimistic pathway for women and men to work together to end the violence.
- Men and Women: Working Together for [a] Change. Between women and men, the rules have changed. This talk addresses mis-communication, confusion, fear, and anger. It also addresses the inequality and violation of human rights many women and girls still experience, but also, paradoxically, the price men have paid for our ideas of manhood. We explore not only how society as a whole can become a fairer, safer, and healthier place for women, but also how men’s lives can also change in a positive way.
For more information, please contact Michael Kaufman at
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3. INTERNAL TRAINING: PREVENTING HARASSMENT, PROMOTING EQUALITY
Dr. Kaufman’s interactive and engaging workplace training focuses on preventing sexual harassment, personal harassment and abuse of authority, and on promoting gender sensitivity.
He developed UNESCO’s internal training programme on preventing and responding productively to harassment for both staff and managers and he piloted the programme in Paris and Nairobi. He was the lead author and content designer for on-line training of 55,000-strong UN Development Group.
He has trained country representatives for UNFPA and conducted a participatory assessment/training for IFAD focused on internal gender relations (including harassment, promotion, and work-life balance.)
Sexual harassment, harassment, abuse of authority, poisoned work environments, and an inability to fully and respectfully integrate women are a problem in the UN system as in workplaces around the world. The costs are many: harassment can lead to low morale, high legal fees, lost productivity, poor public image, and a workplace that pits some employees against others. Workplaces where women are not treated with respect and fairness lead to absenteeism, poor performance, and high turnover.
Unearthing the causes of these problems requires more than policy or a complaints procedure. It requires staff and managers to understand attitudes and behaviors that lead to unlawful, disruptive, or unwelcome behavior. It requires they know the positive role they can play in ensuring human rights at the workplace.
Want to read more? “Effective Solutions for Ending Sexual Harassment at the Workplace” is a short article that looks at the three keys for ending sexual harassment.
For more information, please contact Michael Kaufman at
