International Men's Day
Next: November 19, 2026
For the men who show up.
The story
Where it comes from
International Men's Day on 19 November was founded in 1999 by Dr Jerome Teelucksingh, a history lecturer at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad and Tobago. Calls for a men's day go back to at least the 1960s, and earlier attempts in the 1990s faded, but the November date took hold and spread outward from the Caribbean. Its aims include men's and boys' health, better relations between men and women, and positive male role models.
How it's celebrated
There is no single way to keep it, and the organisers say any group may host its own event. People hold seminars, school activities, men's health events and Movember fundraisers, give awards or gifts, and broadcast radio and television programmes. The organisers stress that it is not meant to compete with International Women's Day. A message to a father, brother, son or friend is the simplest way to mark it.
Did you know
- The New York Times reported in 1969 that some men wanted 23 February to be International Men's Day, as a counterpart to 8 March.
- India holds the biggest celebrations of any country, after the campaigner Uma Challa began marking the day there in 2007.
- Singapore is among the countries where the day is now celebrated, alongside Australia, India, the United Kingdom, South Africa and Jamaica.
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