UN Women HeForShe Launches Updated Barbershop Toolkit to Engage Men and Boys in Advancing Gender Equality

New York, September 25 2025 – The signature Barbershop Toolkit has been reimagined for 2025 to meet the current realities of today’s gender equality landscape. First launched in 2017 through a collaboration with the Government of Iceland and UN Women Iceland, the Barbershop Toolkit was created to help facilitators spark peer-led conversations with men and boys about gender equality. Since then, it has been used in communities, corporations, and institutions across the globe, becoming a cornerstone of HeForShe’s work to challenge inequitable social norms related to masculinities and to promote proactive male allyship.

Now, nearly a decade later, the world has changed and so has the toolkit. The Barbershop Toolkit 2.0 responds to a global moment defined by deepening care, climate, and conflict crises; a rise in digital misinformation and online misogyny; and growing demands from younger generations for authentic, inclusive leadership. 

What’s New in the Updated Toolkit

• Ten expanded modules with an intersectional, inclusive approach 

• A stronger focus on power and leadership, with tailored tools for men in decision-making roles

• Improved facilitation guidance, including trauma-informed practices and session flows

• Built-in accountability tools such as allyship checklists, reflection prompts, and policy templates

• Tailored pathways for action for government, corporate, education, and youth contexts

• An integrated monitoring and evaluation framework to track attitudinal and behavioural change

For the first time, the toolkit also offers a contextual user guide to help facilitators select the most relevant modules, or combinations of modules, based on local needs and priorities.

For UN Women, working with men and boys is critical. Our mission is to better the lives of all women and girls. But without men using their influence and agency to advance equality, we will not reach a just world. And in today’s environment, where harmful digital spaces are growing and authoritarian narratives are gaining traction, engaging men as allies is not only about fairness—it is about safeguarding progress and building cultures of respect and accountability. 

- Kirsi Madi, Deputy Executive Director of UN Women 

The updated toolkit will be officially launched during the 2025 UN General Assembly High-Level Week (UNGA80), a key milestone year that also marks the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (Beijing+30). Both moments serve as reminders of the urgency to accelerate progress on gender equality and to engage men and boys as active, accountable partners.

As the global community gathers in New York for UNGA80 and marks three decades since Beijing+30, the updated Barbershop Toolkit offers a timely and practical resource to advance gender equality in every sector and setting. By equipping facilitators with evidence-based guidance, adaptable content, and tools for accountability, it aims to turn dialogue into action and action into lasting change. The next chapter of the Barbershop journey begins now, with partners and practitioners worldwide invited to take part.

Download the full toolkit here: HeForShe Barbershop Toolkit 2.0