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Men's World Day was observed in Austria in the first week of November annually in the years 2000–2004. It was conceived by author George Kindel and inaugurated in November 2000. A central motivation for Kindel was his understanding that "the testosterone influenced brain of men" is the main reason for men's violent nature, and why he also believed that women would never be capable of violence and brutality. Due to the male propensity for violence Kindel proposed that Men's World Day not be conceived as a day to celebrate men but rather a day of introspection and self-criticism. He also wanted to show that there are some males who have had a positive, nonviolent influence on our world and to award them as role models.

Mikhail Gorbachev offered to act as co-founder and president of the event after an invitation by Kindel who had described it to him as a 'men's health' initiative. Men's World Day consisted primarily of a world awards event to recognise and honour men who exemplify the best attributes of mankind. Men recognized and awarded at this event include Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman, Plácido Domingo, Christopher Reeve, the Bee Gees, Yusuf Islam aka Cat Stevens, Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Richard Branson, Steven Spielberg, Luciano Pavarotti, Christian Barnard and Ted Turner.

Men's World Day has been promoted as a world event but has not been officially celebrated by any other countries except Austria, and Germany in 2003. It was recognized by the United Nations in Vienna and by the Gorbachev Foundation who jointly organized the annual event for four years before it was terminated and replaced with a new gender neutral celebration named 'The World Awards' which now permanently includes the honouring and awarding of women.