Meet The Recipients Of Our 2023 Community-Based SRHR Funding Initiative
At Oxfam Canada, we know that advocates drive progress towards fulfilling sexual and reproductive health and rights at the local, national, and international levels. Activists worldwide are campaigning for better services and advocating for policy changes while shifting social norms around SRHR and 2SLGBTQ+ issues. That’s why supporting the next generation of advocates is so important, and our community-based SRHR funding initiative does just that.
Oxfam Canada’s Stand Up For SRHR project is supporting local and grassroots organizations in Mozambique and Uganda to provide sexual and reproductive health support for thousands of people and shift discriminatory social norms in regards to gender violence, early pregnancy, child marriage and sexual and productive health.
Stand Up for SRHR also aims to raise awareness about sexual and reproductive health and rights across Canada by supporting community-based public engagement initiatives spearheaded by youth (aged 18-29) and women’s rights or youth-led organizations.
We are thrilled to announce the recipients of the 2023 community-based SRHR funding initiative.
Youth Recipients
Abubaker Bukulu (he/him)- East York, Ontario
Abubaker is creating a new youth platform called Voice Up, which will produce a podcast focusing on SRHR topics such as unsafe abortions, gender-based violence, and sexually transmitted infections, all while amplifying young people’s voices on these subjects and their solutions. Ten young BIPOC receive training on digital storytelling and campaigning and will serve as ambassadors for the platform. The podcast will be disseminated through social media campaigns aiming to reach other BIPOC youth.
Ethan Paul (he/him/they/them) – Membertou, Nova Scotia
Ethan is launching a new monthly book club “Books and Piteway” to foster engagement on SRHR issues within the Mi’kmaq community of Membertou. It will center Indigiqueer, two-spirit, and Indigenous women authors and have a focus on Indigenous feminism, 2SLGBTQ+ rights, SRHR, and gender-based violence. The monthly meetings will also include preparing and sharing Piteway, or tea – a practice that holds deep cultural significance in Mi’kmaw traditions. The Books and Pitewey book club will not only promote literacy and knowledge sharing, but will also intertwine cultural revitalization and the promotion of SRHR within the Membertou community.
Stevie Thompson (they/them) – Burnaby, British Columbia
A new podcast, No Shame, will be hosted by Stevie Thompson, a queer, non-binary sexual health educator and advocate. It will feature a diverse range of 2SLGBTQIA+ guests sharing their lived experience of sexual and reproductive health to affirm and educate listeners. Guests will discuss both the information they wish they received sooner in life and what they want others to know about their experiences. Listeners will learn how they may better navigate or support others to navigate their sexual and reproductive health.
Organizational Recipients
missInformed – Hamilton, Ontario
The Abortion Communications Project aims to run a Canada-wide education campaign on abortion over twelve months. The project, which is currently underway, is producing evidence-based resources about abortion services and access that weave in lived experiences from Canadian youth accessing reproductive care, touching on access to care, what to expect and addressing misinformation about abortion. To initiate the project, missINFORMED hosted a panel titled Imagining the Next Chapter for Abortion Care in Canada: Pathways to Access and Equity, which included reproductive leaders from across the country to discuss the future of abortion care in Canada. Further project content is currently being produced and disseminated via diverse media forms, including blog articles, social media posts and podcast episodes to reach a broader audience. The project also includes a fund to support access to abortion care for rural and equity-deserving youth, covering travel costs such as accommodation, flights, and food, items often overlooked but critical parts of the abortion care journey for many folks in Canada. The project will culminate with an in-person education event in downtown Toronto to foster a strong community of reproductive rights activists for the future.
Planned Parenthood – Regina, Saskatchewan
By working with zines – a medium that has been the cornerstone of grassroots activism for decades – Planned Parenthood Regina will be able to work with their community to discuss a wide range of SRHR topics that are facing political backlash by their provincial government. Through this initiative, Planned Parenthood Regina will be able to develop a clinical space that is community focused and conducive to learning from one another, while bringing extended awareness to SRHR topics. Ultimately, it will foster a stronger connection between their educational and clinical services. It will also foster learning and sharing from their communities and create shareable resources on SRHR, centering the experiences of 2SLGBTQIA+ and BIPOC participants. The zines will be showcased at the end of the program.
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