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There has been growing recognition of the need to address the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) needs of men and boys, including a need for more explicit guidance in domestic health policy and plans. This paper reports on a policy analysis, covering five East and Southern African countries, and discusses the extent and ways in which male clinical and non-clinical needs, and their roles in SRH are currently being reflected. It draws attention to the policy discourse, trends, and gaps in including men in the region as clients, partners and change agents to inform a way forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how family dynamics and normative role expectations inform disclosure decisions of young lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people within a changed legal context, drawing on semi-structured, biographical narrative interviews and focus groups involving 116 LGBTI youth (16–24 years) who were enrolled through a network-based recruitment method in three Provincial capitals. We conducted a thematic analysis with data from digitally recorded interviews transcribed verbatim. Conformity to heteronormative sexuality formed an important part of childhood socialization, and deviance became a growing source of parental-child conflict during puberty. Secrecy, which was commonplace among participants, was a critical strategy to protect against deteriorating family relationships, and financial hardship. Mediation by family elders helped restore communications post-disclosure, and positively influenced the parental role in protecting the child against discriminatory practices. Tension between the legal and social normative framework demonstrates that liberalizing contentious rights in law cannot be transformative without social change strategies. The government has to ensure access and investment in educational interventions that foster critical consciousness on gender and sexuality in family, and other socializing agents such as schools, with a view to addressing a key driver of discrimination against LGBTI people in Mozambique and promoting their social inclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International donors continue to prefer vertical programming over systems strengthening despite the universal health agenda. This study explored Dutch policy and practice towards health systems within sexual and reproductive health and rights‐focused partnerships between the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs and civil society, through a document analysis, 13 in‐depth interviews and a stakeholder workshop. The findings revealed that partnerships supported the Ugandan health system in unstructured ways and had difficulties finding synergies. To ensure sustained outcomes and respond to the renewed urgency of strong health systems in the face of crises, donors should incorporate systems strengthening as an explicit goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]