React & Change Organization is an award-winning non-profit platform and incubator of young leaders committed to ending gender inequality in Brazil through social entrepreneurship and technologies of innovation. The organization, founded by two Man Up Delegates, has unprecedentedly impacted the lives of more than 100,000 young people from across the globe, teaching the current and next generations of young people how to switch the manly culture of their respective communities into a more equal one that accepts boys, girls, men and women as the same.

Ghana (West Africa) – Sally Appiagyei--Frimpong (Man Up delegate, Ghana), together with other young Ghanaians, have admirably taken on a most ambitious project: to inspire and empower young girls with resources that will allow them to act with integrity and take on leadership roles. Sally is the founder of Solutions for Life Initiative Ghana (SFLIG) and their mission is to “create a platform to help young girls build up their confidence, give them equal opportunities, giver them companionship and a listening ear, and provide unwavering encouragement dedicated to helping them become agents of change in our generation”. To do this Sally and her team have initiated a special project to empower young women (early mothers) in disadvantaged communities by promoting their sense of self-esteem and expanding their role in building a sustainable and productive future for their community. Informed by high rates of teenage pregnancies in schools the project targeted young girls and early mothers from the Kwabre District and the Kunasi and Brong Ahafo Regions. The project—Early Mothers Initiative—so far is helping young mothers deal with the stigmatization they receive from society through counselling and boosting their self esteem; getting the fathers of the babies to take up responsibility; reintegrating early mothers back into educational and training programs after having to leave school; and working with participants on health education.

Democratic Republic of Congo – DRC (Central Africa) – The DRC has the notorious label as having been at the centre of Africa’s worst war. Three million lives were estimated to have been lost between 1998 and 2003 as a result of the war in the Congo. How many victims were women and children is unclear though some estimates suggest the number is ‘many many thousands’. Despite peace deals and the interventions of the UN, fighting has continued, with women and children (as child-soldiers) often at the front lines. Rapes are so brutal and systematic that UN investigators have called them unprecedented. Many victims die; others are infected with HIV and left to look after children alone. Recently the DRC has received another notorious label: as being one of the worst countries for women to live, ranking 161 out of 165 countries globally [Save the Children, 2012].

Guyana (South America/ Caribbean) – Abbas Mancey (Man Up delegate, Guyana) decided on a less used approach towards reducing  violence in Guyana; he focused his project on working with men and boys in football clubs towards reducing gender-based violence (GBV) in local neighbourhoods. In the past—both globally and regionally—efforts to reduce or eradicate GBV have largely tended to focus on women, on empowering women and girls, fewer have focused on men and boys. The 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) was unprecedented in its call for countries to promote men's support in the struggle for gender equality and encourage their involvement and shared responsibility. Abbas’s project aimed to do just that. In particular, his project “Man Up! Be a Champion for Change”, aimed at “initiating a shift from negative cultural norms and inequitable gender attitudes towards women and girls to more positive gender equitable attitudes among boys in selected football clubs in the community of Linden”. Working through the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security and partnering with the football association of Linden (UDFA) and other local groups, Abbas sourced funding from partners in Guyana (UN Women, UNFPA and USAID) to complete his project.

Global Unification Gambia, a youth-led research and development organization, in partnership with Earth Charter International, has initiated the Women’s Initiative for Economic Empowerment and Education (WIFE) project, a community self-help project, in the village of Dongoroba, in Jarra East, Lower River Region.

Historically, gender based violence has been cloistered away as a 'women's issue'. For the past thirty years this issue has been taken up wholeheartedly by the feminist establishment and major advancements have been made on a variety of fronts. In the Canadian context, clinics, counseling and support groups have made major in roads working with survivors. These same organizations have done an excellent job conducting outreach for girls in schools, women in universities as well as organizing the general public along political fault lines as they developed. It has been an age of real growth and progress for support networks and education for women around their rights and resources.

Each one of us were working with activism. When we noticed about Man Up campaign in our social network of activism in women’s rights. We talked each other and decided to be a team and apply to be a part in this urgent action a call to stop violence against women and girls.

Personally I, Fernanda, was a victim of domestic violence, but I just realized that when I was at college studying feminism. I always thought that those violent behavior was natural…was common in every family in the world. I was wrong! But it took time until I was prepared to face my fears and fight against VAW, against my personal VAW. The VAW I suffered for so long.

Yvonne Chaka Chaka has described Man Up as “a brilliant campaign which captures the heart of young people. Using music and soccer as a catalyst for change is the best way to motivate young leaders to transform how women and girls are treated in every country, in every city, in every home around the world.”