Gender based family planning (FP) services implies the improvement of the equity and the role of men/husbands in FP and reproductive health. However, after 30 years of government-supported FP program in Indonesia, the participation of men is tow. Few studies have been conducted in effort to understand the causes of low male participation in FP in wide-diverse regions of Indonesia. To understand these causes in its intervention districts (OKI in South Sumatera, Tasikmalaya in West Java, Singkawang in West Kalimantan and Kupang in East Nusa Tenggara) . The United Nations Population Fund Country Office Indonesia Guided a study of the causes of low male participation in FP. Field data coiiection was conducted during December 2004 through January 2005. The number of reproductive age couples in the study is 639. The results of the study show that the percentage of husbands who were practicing a male FP method was higher among couples whose wives were older, who had no children, whose wives or husbands had senior high school education or higher, who came from higher income families, whose wives were currently working or ever worked and husbands were currently working, who believed that socio-cultural norms or religions values were against FP practice, who had easy access to male sterilization services and to male condom, who lived in urban areas and whose wives approved of male FP practice. After controlling the other factors, the background characteristics that statistically and significantly affect the probability ever or currently practicing a male FP method in the study location are wife's age, husband's education, household income district of residence, access to male condom and wife's attitude toward male FP practice.
