U.S. GROUPS ENDORSE INTERNATIONAL MEN'S DAY OBSERVANCE ON 19 NOVEMBER 2008

UNANDERRA NSW AUSTRALIA (18 NOVEMBER 2008) -- International Men’s Day which will be observed on Wednesday, 19 November 2008 has been endorsed by a number of United States organizations that include the Malachi Global Foundation (www.malachiglobal.org) which has its North American headquarters in Midland, Michigan; Better Dads (www.betterdads.net); and IN SEARCH OF FATHERHOOD® (http://globalfatherhooddialogue.blogspot.com) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. “Honour And Sacrifice” – the theme for the worldwide observance of INTERNATIONAL MEN’S DAY on Wednesday, 19 November 2008 was selected by Warwick Marsh, the Global Coordinator for this event and the Founder of the Fatherhood Foundation (www.fatherhood.org.au).

INTERNATIONAL MEN’S DAY was first proposed in 1999 by former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev at a United Nationsl Conference in Austria, Vienna.

Warwick Marsh, the Global Coordinator for INTERNATIONAL MEN'S DAY is calling for Men, Fathers, Fatherhood organizations, Fatherhood Practitioners and Fathers’ Rights Adovcates throughout our global village to incorporate the observance of International Men’s Day on Wednesday, 19 November 2008 into their existing day-to-day activities by, for example, observing one minute of silence at 1:00 P.M. for men who have died serving their respective countries; and sending out press releases to the media which acknowledges the enormous contributions that men have made and continue to make to the world.

“We are asking the Men and Fathers throughout our global village be alerted about the observance of International Men’s Day and to take ownership of the day and of the challenge of manhood. International Men’s Day is not an event – it is an opportunity,” Mr. Marsh stated.

So, why has 19 November 2008 been designated as International Men’s Day? Mr. Marsh who is facilitating the worldwide observance of International Men’s Day points to the late United States President Abraham Lincoln and the Gettysburg address.

“The fact that Abraham Lincoln who was one of the greatest Presidents of all time gave his Gettysburg address on 19 November 1863 at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania makes the day special for the observance of International Men’s Day in the United States Just as President Lincoln called for the honoring and remembrance of the contributions of the men who gave the ultimate sacrifice – their lives – during America’s Civil War, we are asking that the contributions and sacrifices of Men and Fathers be honored and remembered in every part of the world on International Men’s Day – 19 November 2008. President Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address embodies the theme of Honor and Sacrifice which has been selected for International Men’s Day. A reprint of President Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address appears below,” Marsh explained.

THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS

"Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth."


When reached for comment concerning his endorsement of International Men’s Day, Rick Johnson of Better Dads (www.betterdads.net) which provides seminars and workshops on parenting young males and the author of “Better Dads, Better Sons" had this to say:

”As Lincoln says, ‘Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war.’ Now is the time for all good men to step forward! Our country must honor these men if we want them to continue to exist.”

“As founder of the Malachi Global Foundation, I am proud to offer my support for the International Men's Day on November 19th. Men today are faced with many challenges. Changing expectations about roles, child custody laws that seem to favor women, pressure to "perform" financially, vocationally, relationally, and even sexually. Fortunately, men are up to the challenge! Just as they have for countless generations, men adapt, adjust, and overcome all obstacles on their way to being great husbands, great fathers, and just as important, simply great men whose contributions make the world a better place,” stated Brian D. Molitor, the Founder of the Malachi Global Foundation which is headquartered in Midland, Michigan in the United States.

“When Don Mathis, a Fathers’ Rights Advocate and Publisher of The Fourteen Percenter, an international Fatherhood publication informed me about the observance of International Men’s Day and that Warwick Marsh of Australia’s Fatherhood Foundation was the Global Coordinator for the event, I immediately contacted Mr. Marsh and advised him that he had IN SEARCH OF FATHERHOOD®’s full support. I agree with Warwick Marsh that International Men’s Day is more than an event – it is an opportunity. For Fathers, Mothers, Women, Mothers, Fatherhood organizations, Fatherhood Practitioners, and Fathers’ Rights Advocates in the United States, International Men’s Day is an opportunity to work together in a spirit of collaboration to create key “pieces of the puzzle” which will help to make equal parenting the law of the land and establish an Office of Men’s Health in the United States Department of Health and Human Services which will address the critical and unique health needs of Men in the same manner that the Office of Women’s Health which was established in 1991 addresses the critical and unique health needs of women in America,” stated Diane A. Sears, the Managing Editor of IN SEARCH OF FATHERHOOD® and Director of IN SEARCH OF FATHERHOOD(R)'s INTERNATIONAL FATHERHOOD AND MEN'S ISSUES INTERNSHIP PROGRAM.

For further information concerning the worldwide observance of International Men’s Day on 19 November 2008, Warwick Marsh of the Fatherhood Foundation by telephone at 011 61 2 4272 6677, facsimile at 011 61 2 4272 6680, or via e-mail at: info@fatherhood.org.au and visit the website for the Fatherhood Foundation at www.fatherhood.org.au.

For further information about International Men’s Day observances in the United States, on 19 November 2008, contact: Brian D. Molitor the Founder of Malachi Global Foundation (www.malachiglobal.org) by telephone at 998-898-or send an e-mail to: Briandmolitor@aol.com; Rick Johnson of Better Dads (www.betterdads.net) by telephone at: 501-503-665-3761 or send an e-mail to: betterdads@verizon.net; and Diane A. Sears, Managing Editor of IN SEARCH OF FATHERHOOD® (http://globalfatherhooddialogue.blogspot.com), an international quarterly male parenting journal which is distributed in The Netherlands and the United States and the Director of the IN SEARCH OF FATHERHOOD® INTERNATIONAL FATHERHOOD AND MEN’S ISSUES INTERNSHIP PROGRAM via e-mail at: bsi-international@earthlink.net.