{"id":255621,"date":"2023-06-05T10:35:28","date_gmt":"2023-06-05T14:35:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/care.ca\/?p=255621"},"modified":"2023-06-09T12:41:41","modified_gmt":"2023-06-09T16:41:41","slug":"she-soars-podcast-how-is-climate-change-linked-to-sexual-health-and-rights-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/care.ca\/2023\/06\/05\/she-soars-podcast-how-is-climate-change-linked-to-sexual-health-and-rights-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"SHE SOARS podcast: How is climate change linked to sexual health and rights? \u2013 Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_row _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; background_size=&#8221;initial&#8221; background_position=&#8221;top_left&#8221; background_repeat=&#8221;repeat&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; custom_padding=&#8221;|||&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; custom_padding__hover=&#8221;|||&#8221;][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;Buzzfeed player&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.19.4&#8243; background_size=&#8221;initial&#8221; background_position=&#8221;top_left&#8221; background_repeat=&#8221;repeat&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;]<\/p>\n<div id=\"buzzsprout-player-12969305\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<p><script src=\"https:\/\/www.buzzsprout.com\/2112328\/12969305-how-is-climate-change-linked-to-sexual-health-and-rights-part-1.js?container_id=buzzsprout-player-12969305&#038;player=small\" type=\"text\/javascript\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;Podcast app buttons&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.19.4&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;]<\/p>\n<div class=\"window__share-player-listings-container\"><a class=\"listen-modal__item--apple\" href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/podcast\/id1670451310\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Apple Podcasts<\/a><br \/><a class=\"listen-modal__item--spotify\" href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0i58DLeM9GxwbmdW2BEJBG\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Spotify<\/a><br \/><a class=\"listen-modal__item--amazon\" href=\"https:\/\/music.amazon.com\/podcasts\/bfd6f3d4-abc6-4047-8264-f2f4b48ce5bf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Amazon Music<\/a><br \/><a class=\"listen-modal__item--google\" href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.google.com\/feed\/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS8yMTEyMzI4LnJzcw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Google<\/a><\/div>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider show_divider=&#8221;off&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.19.4&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_accordion open_toggle_text_color=&#8221;#F4B223&#8243; open_toggle_background_color=&#8221;#f3f5f8&#8243; closed_toggle_text_color=&#8221;#F4B223&#8243; closed_toggle_background_color=&#8221;#f3f5f8&#8243; toggle_icon=&#8221;&#xe044;||divi||400&#8243; icon_color=&#8221;#F4B223&#8243; use_icon_font_size=&#8221;on&#8221; icon_font_size=&#8221;30px&#8221; icon_font_size_tablet=&#8221;26px&#8221; icon_font_size_phone=&#8221;22px&#8221; icon_font_size_last_edited=&#8221;on|tablet&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.19.4&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; toggle_text_color=&#8221;#F4B223&#8243; toggle_font_size=&#8221;38px&#8221; toggle_line_height=&#8221;1.2em&#8221; closed_toggle_line_height=&#8221;1.2em&#8221; body_text_color=&#8221;#1C1D30&#8243; hover_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243; toggle_font_size_tablet=&#8221;28px&#8221; toggle_font_size_phone=&#8221;24px&#8221; toggle_font_size_last_edited=&#8221;on|phone&#8221; custom_css_toggle=&#8221;padding: 0;&#8221; custom_css_toggle_title=&#8221;padding: 20px 65px 20px 35px;||background-color: #1C1D30;&#8221; custom_css_toggle_icon=&#8221;display: block;||right: 30px;&#8221; custom_css_toggle_content=&#8221;padding: 35px 35px;&#8221; border_width_all=&#8221;0px&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; custom_css_toggle_icon_last_edited=&#8221;on|tablet&#8221; custom_css_toggle_icon_tablet=&#8221;display: block;||right: 20px;&#8221; custom_css_toggle_title_last_edited=&#8221;on|tablet&#8221; custom_css_toggle_title_tablet=&#8221;padding: 18px 50px 18px 20px;||background-color: #1C1D30; &#8221; custom_css_toggle_content_last_edited=&#8221;on|tablet&#8221; custom_css_toggle_content_tablet=&#8221;padding: 20px 20px;&#8221; custom_css_toggle_icon_phone=&#8221;display: block;||right: 20px;&#8221; custom_css_toggle_title_phone=&#8221;padding: 18px 50px 18px 20px;||background-color: #1C1D30; &#8221; custom_css_toggle_content_phone=&#8221;padding: 20px 20px;&#8221; sticky_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243;][et_pb_accordion_item title=&#8221;Episode description&#8221; open=&#8221;on&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.19.4&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; hover_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; sticky_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243;]<\/p>\n<p>In honour of World Environment Day, the Youth Champions dive into this pressing issue and what we can do about it. Meet Rebecca, CARE Canada\u2019s Chief of Party for the SHE SOARS* project, who shares how climate change impacts sexual health and rights. Rebecca explains how environmental changes like temperature, flooding and food insecurity, and their link to gender and social norms, negatively affect women and girls\u2019 health and access to services in the countries we work in. The group discusses examples of the changing climate in Kenya, Uganda and Zambia, and the less-talked about consequences for Sexual and Reproductive Health. Together, they explore how intertwined these issues are and what actions we as global citizens can take to make a difference.<\/p>\n<p>*SHE SOARS, funded by Global Affairs Canada, is the Sexual and reproductive Health &amp; Economic empowerment Supporting Out of school Adolescent girls\u2019 Rights and Skills project. Learn more at: <a href=\"http:\/\/care.ca\/shesoarsproject\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">care.ca\/shesoarsproject<\/a><\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_accordion_item][et_pb_accordion_item title=&#8221;Episode transcript&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.19.4&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; open=&#8221;off&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p>[00:00:01]\u00a0<b>Madeline:<\/b>\u00a0Hello and welcome to SHE SOARS. Her Voice. Her Rights.<\/p>\n<p>[00:00:05]\u00a0<b>Amal:<\/b>\u00a0We are CARE Canada&#8217;s Youth Champions, a group of young people across Canada who are passionate advocates for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR).<\/p>\n<p>[00:00:13]\u00a0<b>Lauren:<\/b>\u00a0We&#8217;re excited to discuss and raise awareness about young women&#8217;s rights and choices in Kenya, Uganda and Zambia.<\/p>\n<p>[00:00:20]\u00a0<b>Amal:<\/b>\u00a0Together, we will explore how these global issues connect to our lives as Canadian youth and discover ways in which we can all take action.<\/p>\n<p>[00:00:27]\u00a0<b>Lauren:<\/b>\u00a0We will also talk about the <a href=\"https:\/\/care.ca\/projects\/she-soars\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SHE SOARS* project<\/a>, which improves access to health and education, which are areas we want to see change in.<\/p>\n<p>[00:00:34]\u00a0<b>Everyone:<\/b>\u00a0Join us!<\/p>\n<p>[00:00:40]\u00a0<b>Lauren:<\/b>\u00a0Welcome back to another episode of the SHE SOARS podcast! Her Rights. Her Voice. In honor of World Environment Day, we are focusing on a lesser-discussed but very important topic, which is the connection between Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) and climate change. For those who don&#8217;t know, World Environment Day is the United Nations\u2019 Day for encouraging worldwide awareness and action to protect our environment.<\/p>\n<p>[00:01:04]\u00a0<b>Amal:<\/b>\u00a0As is becoming more and more clear as time passes, climate change impacts all aspects of our lives. And as youth advocates for global SRHR, we thought it would be important to discuss the relationship between access to health services and the climate. Keep listening about what this relationship looks like and what we can do to counteract these negative impacts. So today we&#8217;re joined with Rebecca Davidson, CARE Canada&#8217;s Chief of Party for the SHE SOARS project. Rebecca will be providing some insights into this topic and how it looks in the context of the SHE SOARS project countries like Kenya, Uganda and Zambia.<\/p>\n<p>[00:01:39]\u00a0<b>Lauren:<\/b>\u00a0So Rebecca, before we dive in, could you please share a bit more about your background and your role in the SHE SOARS project?<\/p>\n<p>[00:01:46]\u00a0<b>Rebecca Davidson:<\/b>\u00a0Yeah. So my title is Chief of Party but that&#8217;s just a fancy term for project director and so my role is to support the teams in Kenya, Uganda and Zambia to implement the SHE SOARS project, which as you know is an Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights project. I come to this role with around 15 years of experience in global health work. So I&#8217;ve done roles with different international organizations around program design, development of proposals and implementing programming to leading teams and doing some influencing around policies linked to global health. So I&#8217;ve been involved in the different sort of facets of global health and I\u2019m very passionate about women and girls\u2019 right to bodily autonomy.<\/p>\n<p>[00:02:27]\u00a0<b>Amal:<\/b>\u00a0Thank you so much for introducing yourself and a bit of work that you do. To dive into the topic today, we&#8217;ve learned through research that climate change can make pre-existing inequalities worse and negatively impact women and girls in particular. So Rebecca, could you please share some of the ways in which SRHR issues grow when climate change is present?<\/p>\n<p>[00:02:48]\u00a0<b>Rebecca Davidson:<\/b>\u00a0Sure, and maybe just with the caveat that I&#8217;m not an expert on climate change but someone that&#8217;s very concerned about the impact of climate change and really wanting to understand more deeply those connections between Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights and changing climates. And so I have dug in a bit to the research and I&#8217;ve also drawn upon CARE&#8217;S global expertise working in food and water systems in humanitarian response, and tried to pull out some of those connections and programmatic experience. And from what I&#8217;ve learned, there&#8217;s really four areas that I&#8217;d love to highlight today. One is around heat. The other is around flooding. Another is gender and social norms and the impact and relationship with women and girls&#8217; ability to access their rights and health services. And also the link between food insecurity and nutrition and Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>[00:03:42]\u00a0<b>Rebecca Davidson:<\/b>\u00a0The first area in terms of rising temperatures is that there&#8217;s a body of evidence, particularly in places that are already hot, where we&#8217;re seeing real impacts on pregnant women, in particular eclampsia, which is a very serious condition in pregnancy. We&#8217;re seeing an increase in preterm birth, so babies born before their due date. And we&#8217;re also seeing an increase in newborn stunting so that means babies are not getting the proper nutrition in utero. So those are all very concerning as our planet heats up, some very real health impacts for pregnant women in particular and their babies. The second area is around flooding. So sort of the opposite where we have too much rain too quickly and that can impact waterborne diseases. But more importantly when it comes to Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights we can see communities cut off for long periods of time from services so they can&#8217;t get to a health center. And that means access to medicines like contraception can be a barrier.<\/p>\n<p>[00:04:44]\u00a0<b>Rebecca Davidson:<\/b>\u00a0The other area is a bit more complicated around food insecurity. So as we see flooding and droughts we know that food production goes down and that can impact the nutritional status of women and girls. We know anemia is a major issue in many developing countries. Over 600 million women and girls worldwide have anemia. And when you layer that for particularly younger girls, adolescent girls, who have a number of additional risk factors in pregnancy, the result is really a very high maternal mortality rate for adolescent girls. In fact, it&#8217;s the leading cause of death for girls 15 to 19 in developing countries.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>[00:05:24]\u00a0<b>Rebecca Davidson:<\/b>\u00a0And then the other piece is really around gender and social norms. So in many of the places that we work women and girls are responsible for collecting firewood and for collecting water. As you know, an increase in deforestation happens as water becomes more scarce. That means women and girls have to travel longer distances and that takes them away from other really important livelihoods components but it also means that they have more protection risks when it comes to gender-based violence if they&#8217;re traveling longer distances outside of their communities.<\/p>\n<p>[00:05:56]\u00a0<b>Rebecca Davidson:<\/b>\u00a0So those are some of the key areas in which SRHR is impacted by climate change. And I guess the other piece to mention is that we also see a link between food insecurity and increased rates of child and early forced marriage and that really links to right to bodily autonomy, to choose when and if you&#8217;re going to be married. And this is really prevalent in areas where there&#8217;s a dowry system; families are really struggling to survive and when they&#8217;re in times of crisis the dowry can take the form of cattle or other resources that can help a family survive a crisis. So those are some of the sort of areas that are emerging in terms of the links between a changing climate and Sexual Reproductive Health Rights.<\/p>\n<p>[00:06:38]\u00a0<b>Lauren:<\/b>\u00a0Great. Thanks so much for that answer. Yeah, I think I came into this conversation knowing a bit about the connections but not too much in depth and that really laid it out how urgent and pervasive it is in a lot of areas of life. So thank you for sharing that. A follow up question to that is how have those areas of connection points between climate change and SRHR presented themselves in Kenya, Uganda and Zambia? And then consequently, how is the SHE SOARS project tackling these SRHR issues in relation to the environment?<\/p>\n<p>[00:07:09]\u00a0<b>Rebecca Davidson:<\/b>\u00a0Yeah, that&#8217;s a really good question and it&#8217;s something that we&#8217;re thinking about a lot along with our project teams. In Uganda, we\u2019re working with communities that are largely made up of refugees and so we&#8217;re working in host communities and many of those refugees are from South Sudan. Now that&#8217;s a complicated context but when you layer in massive flooding over the last few years that has also increased the influx of people into Uganda, into the communities in which we&#8217;re working, that&#8217;s certainly affected the project design and the services available to people within those communities. Similarly in Zambia, in the last two years since I&#8217;ve been working on this project we&#8217;ve had communities cut off for more than a month because of flooding. And again, as I mentioned that impacts access to health services.<\/p>\n<p>[00:07:58]\u00a0<b>Rebecca Davidson:<\/b>\u00a0In Kenya we&#8217;ve had the opposite issue in terms of drought. Kenya has been facing the worst drought in over 40 years. There has been four consecutive years of low rainfall and in some of the communities in which we&#8217;re implementing, they\u2019re pastoralists, so they need to move with cattle to access water. And so we&#8217;ve had challenges in Kenya, particularly engaging boys who often have that responsibility of moving with the cattle to find water. And of course cattle are also a huge source of iron in terms of meat and also accessing milk, which comes back to the nutrition issue and anemia of women and girls. So we&#8217;ve been seeing the impact of climate change in the project in all three countries. The way in which we&#8217;re trying to respond is really think about resilient livelihoods. So yes, SHE SOARS is a project focused on Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights. But we also have an economic empowerment component, and part of that is looking at what are the available resources in a community and how do we support young people in particular to have adaptive livelihood strategies in the face of a changing climate, particularly when we&#8217;re thinking about agricultural activities and thinking about adaptive farming interventions or approaches.<\/p>\n<p>[00:09:13]\u00a0<b>Rebecca Davidson:<\/b>\u00a0So we&#8217;re actually doing training with the Climate Justice team at CARE to integrate that into the livelihoods and Youth Savings and Loans Associations curriculum so that young people and communities are empowered with the ability to understand what the changing climate looks like in their community and how can they adapt so that they can have livelihood opportunities that can support them. And I think the other key area is making sure that health services, particularly contraception, are available in communities. So we&#8217;re working with community health workers, community health entrepreneurs, and we&#8217;re experimenting in Zambia with community-based distributors, which are really just young people that are trained to be able to provide contraception to their peers within their community.<\/p>\n<p>[00:10:00]\u00a0<b>Rebecca Davidson:<\/b>\u00a0So when we know rainy season is coming up can we stock them up and make sure that those commodities are available in communities so that the distribution or the supply chain isn&#8217;t cut off when there&#8217;s flooding. Then I think the third piece is really around gender and social norms change. We&#8217;re really trying to encourage men and boys to be partners of women and girls and to take on more equal responsibilities at the household level so that they can carry the burden more equally when it comes to having to do some of these household chores like collecting water and firewood, that take a lot of time. And trying to shift the burden so that women and girls aren&#8217;t carrying that heavy load alone.<\/p>\n<p>[00:10:35]\u00a0<b>Amal:<\/b>\u00a0Thank you so much. It&#8217;s great to hear about the interventions that are linked with climate change that the SHE SOARS project is working on. So I guess another aspect that we were wondering about is what steps can policy makers and governments take to address the relationship between SRHR issues and climate change?<\/p>\n<p>[00:10:55]\u00a0<b>Rebecca Davidson:<\/b>\u00a0That\u2019s a really good one that I&#8217;ve been thinking a lot about as climate change becomes a more prominent issue within the development world and of course food security has been elevated given the many different droughts that are happening around the world and the impact on people. What I&#8217;ve been trying to sort of elevator amplify is the need to have SRHR, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, a component of our response, our international programming to support communities to be resilient in the face of climate change. I really feel like it&#8217;s important for women and girls\u2019 holistic needs to be considered. We hear a lot in the donor world, in the development world, a gender responsive approach to climate change. But what that really means is understanding what women and girls need and responding to that. I think this component of bodily autonomy, being able to decide when and if a woman or a girl would like to have a child and make decisions about who she&#8217;s going to marry, those are all really important components to build community resilience to climate change and really make sure that we&#8217;re supporting communities in that way.<\/p>\n<p>[00:12:04]\u00a0<b>Rebecca Davidson:<\/b>\u00a0Funding is important. But also thinking from a more holistic approach I think is important. You know, we really want to keep governments supporting this type of programming. But I think if you take a step back, you also need to look at the vast majority of contributors to greenhouse gas emissions are in the global North and in growing economies. And so we have a greater responsibility to be supporting these countries and these communities that are facing the most impact. The richer countries are not going to feel the impact of climate change like poor communities are, particularly women and girls. So not only do we have a responsibility to continue funding resilience programming, but we also have a responsibility to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions and be really proactive and take this seriously because we&#8217;re seeing the impact in many of the communities in which we work, and it&#8217;s just going to continue to drive humanitarian crises around the world.<\/p>\n<p>[00:13:00]\u00a0<b>Lauren:<\/b>\u00a0Thanks so much for that answer. So this is kind of a question for the group diving off of that point you just made about the burden of responsibility in different countries based on how much we&#8217;ve actually been responsible for producing the climate change. So the question is why is this topic important to all of us? And not just those that are being the most impacted, but everyone on a systemic level, and how can we all take action in our lives in both small and systemic ways?<\/p>\n<p>[00:13:26]\u00a0<b>Rebecca Davidson:<\/b>\u00a0I mean I think that we&#8217;re interconnected whether we like it or not, whether we want to admit that or not. So I think all of us should be very concerned about climate change, particularly for the next generation. I&#8217;m also a mother and I&#8217;m very concerned for my children in terms of what the planet will look like when they grow up and you know that concern is global. That&#8217;s a universal concern of mothers around the world. So I think we have a collective responsibility to take care of each other but also of the planet. And we see all the different ways in which you know, I think Covid was a great example of this connection of our health to the ecosystem, to animals, and I think there&#8217;s a growing understanding of sort of this one health model or way in which we could adapt. And I think it&#8217;s clear this is another example of how the actions of folks in one part of the world greatly and deeply impact those in another part of the world. I think we&#8217;re continually reminded of how interconnected we are as humans on this planet.<\/p>\n<p>[00:14:24]\u00a0<b>Lauren:<\/b>\u00a0Yeah. Bouncing off of that, I know for me, in my university time, I was part of a few different advocacy groups that were advocating for the United Nations 2030 agenda, which is all of the Sustainable Development Goals that we&#8217;re hoping to achieve by the next seven years or so. So yeah, I was part of Engineers Without Borders and a few different local climate change groups and I felt like that was empowering as a young person, feeling like I was having an opportunity to share my voice and my concerns with politicians, local business leaders, things like that.<\/p>\n<p>[00:14:56]\u00a0<b>Lauren:<\/b>\u00a0I would really encourage the young listeners out there to get involved with some of those student groups. I think it&#8217;s really an accessible option. And if your university days are behind you, like they are for me, I know there&#8217;s a lot of community groups you can get involved in as well. Even just like letter writing to local politicians and things like that. It really does put the pressure on and helps keep climate change as a priority in the policy agenda. So I think that&#8217;s a great way that you can take action in your life and feel a bit more empowered and less helpless about the situation.<\/p>\n<p>[00:15:26]\u00a0<b>Amal:<\/b>\u00a0Yeah, I feel that, even as a student in public health, the idea that everything is connected and all health issues are connected around the globe. And even some small actions that I&#8217;ve learned through taking health classes are just the small actions of like recycling, cutting down on emissions, and carpooling. Those are some small ways that people can get involved in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. I think the other ones that Lauren mentioned about letter writing and meeting with politicians are great ways to drive policy sector changes. Well, thank you so much Rebecca for joining us today to talk a little bit about climate change and how that overlaps with Sexual and Reproductive Health and how the SHE SOARS project is going about combating that issue.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>[00:16:11]\u00a0<b>Rebecca Davidson:<\/b>\u00a0Thanks for having me. It was a pleasure to be a guest on the podcast that I listen to all the time.<\/p>\n<p>[00:16:17]\u00a0<b>Amal:<\/b>\u00a0Yes, it was really great to connect with you. So thank you everyone for listening. Stay tuned for our next episode where we&#8217;ll be diving deeper into the topic with a youth global health advocate on climate change.<\/p>\n<p>[00:16:30]\u00a0<b>Lauren:<\/b>\u00a0Thanks everyone, and thanks for joining, Rebecca.<\/p>\n<p>[00:16:31]\u00a0<b>Rebecca Davidson:\u00a0<\/b>Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>[00:16:32]\u00a0<b>Amal:<\/b>\u00a0Thank you! Thanks for listening to SHE SOARS. If you liked this episode, please share it on social media, connect with us in the comments or give us a like.<\/p>\n<p>[00:16:43]\u00a0<b>Lauren:<\/b>\u00a0Make sure to catch our next episode by subscribing to our channel and following us wherever you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n<p>[00:16:49]\u00a0<b>Madeline:<\/b>\u00a0Follow <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/carecanada\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@carecanada on Instagram<\/a> for updates on our show and the project.<\/p>\n<p>[00:16:54]\u00a0<b>Lauren:<\/b>\u00a0SHE SOARS stands for Sexual and reproductive Health and Economic empowerment supporting Out-of-school Adolescent girls&#8217; Rights and Skills in Kenya, Uganda and Zambia.<\/p>\n<p>[00:17:04]\u00a0<b>Madeline:<\/b>\u00a0The project is funded by Global Affairs Canada. Check out our global partner organizations:<\/p>\n<p>[00:17:10]\u00a0<b>Amal:<\/b>\u00a0Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights, the Center for Reproductive Rights and Restless Development for even more project updates.<\/p>\n<p>[00:17:19]\u00a0<b>Lauren:<\/b>\u00a0Thanks again for listening. Until next time!<\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_accordion_item][\/et_pb_accordion][et_pb_divider show_divider=&#8221;off&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.19.4&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;Disclaimer&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.19.4&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;]<\/p>\n<h1><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Podcast disclaimer<\/span><\/b><\/h1>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in the SHE SOARS podcast are the speakers\u2019 own and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, standards and policies of CARE Canada. The SHE SOARS podcast is a youth-led initiative that provides space for young people to discuss global Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights with the purpose of raising awareness in Canada. Listeners acknowledge that the material and information presented in the podcast are for informational purposes only and do not constitute advice or services. The podcast is for private, non-commercial use and speakers do not necessarily reflect any organization they work for.<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u202f<\/span><\/p>\n<h1><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Transcript disclaimer<\/span><\/b><\/h1>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Disclaimer: Transcripts are for private use for accessibility and informational purposes only. The views and opinions expressed in the SHE SOARS podcast are the speakers\u2019 own and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, standards and policies of CARE Canada. Speakers do not necessarily reflect any organization they work for. Readers acknowledge that the material and information presented does not constitute advice or services.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In this episode of the podcast we speak with Tikhala Itaye, the Director, Global Movement Building for Women in Global Health\u2014an  organization built on a global movement with the largest network of women and allies working to challenge power and privilege for gender equity in health. Tikhala talks about the challenges women in health care are facing, and the importance of gender equity in health care and why it&#8217;s not only good for women and those who identify as women, but for everyone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":253420,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"<!-- wp:fl-builder\/layout -->\r\n<div id=\"buzzsprout-player-12431908\">\u00a0<\/div>\r\n<p><script src=\"https:\/\/www.buzzsprout.com\/2112328\/12431908-youth-led-activism-on-sexual-and-reproductive-health-rights-part-1.js?container_id=buzzsprout-player-12431908&player=small\" type=\"text\/javascript\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\r\n<h2>Episode Transcript<\/h2>\r\n<p><strong>Madeline (00:01):<\/strong> Hello and welcome to SHE SOARS. Her Voice. Her Rights.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>Amal (00:05):<\/strong> We are CARE Canada's Youth Champions, a group of young people across Canada who are passionate advocates for Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR).<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>Lauren (00:13):<\/strong> We're excited to discuss and raise awareness about young women's rights and choices in Kenya, Uganda and Zambia.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>Amal (00:20):<\/strong> Together, we will explore how these global issues connect to our lives as Canadian youth and discover ways in which we can all take action.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>Lauren (00:27):<\/strong> We will also talk about <a href=\"\/?p=22813\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the SHE SOARS project<\/a>, which improves access to health and education, which are areas we want to see change in.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>Everyone (00:34):<\/strong> Join us!<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>Amal (00:40):<\/strong> Hello everyone. Welcome to episode three. We have a special guest with us today. Her name is Ruth. Ruth is an intersectional feminist based in Kenya with vast experience in the field of Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights. Over the years, she has worked with renowned organizations in curriculum development, deploying training for healthcare workers to challenge biases regarding Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights for women with disabilities, supporting adolescents and grassroots feminist movements in Kenya. Currently, Ruth works at Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights (YC), where she leads advocacy initiatives and meaningful youth engagement efforts in the YC membership and the SHE SOARS project, which is Sexual and Reproductive Health and Economic empowerment Supporting Out-of-school Adolescent girls\u2019 Rights and Skills in Africa. So Ruth, as a young African activist, firmly believes in substantive participation of young people in decision-making spaces where young people are consulted, share power and co-create SRHR solutions with adult stakeholders following feminist leadership principles. So thank you Ruth for joining us today.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>Ruth (01:53):<\/strong> Thank you. Thank you for having me.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>Madeline (01:54):<\/strong> Yeah, thank you so much. It's really great to have you here. So to start off, do you mind maybe telling us a little bit about your background and why and how you got involved with Youth Coalition?<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>Ruth (02:06):<\/strong> Okay. So my background is in Gender and Women's Studies. I'm currently doing my Master\u2019s in Gender and Women's Studies. I've done my Bachelor's in the same field as well and my inspiration comes from seeing the legalities of adolescents and young women here in Africa, particularly in Kenya, and wanting to make their lives better per se their Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights and economic empowerment. That's why I chose Gender and Development Studies and I'm so passionate about women, about girls and also gender non-conforming persons. So what encouraged me or inspired me to join Youth Coalition is I enjoy working with young people and I enjoy giving power and sharing power with young activists across the globe. So as you know, Youth Coalition is an international youth-led organization working at the regional, at the international and at the international level to advance Sexual and Reproductive Rights of young people. So I wanted to extend my knowledge and skills to young people and also in terms of advocacy and policymaking to ensure that policies that are enacted and implemented address the lived realities of young people and adolescents on the ground in Africa.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>Lauren (03:36):<\/strong> Great, thank you so much for that answer. So next question for you, and this one is a few parts, but what are the needs and challenges for young women and girls in Kenya? And if you can speak to the other project countries of SHE SOARS in relation to Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights and maybe if you could speak a bit to any norms or attitudes that might limit access to these services or just any stories and experiences you can share to shed light on that.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>Ruth (04:02):<\/strong> Thanks Lauren. So as you know, adolescents and young people in Africa, specifically in the three countries in Kenya, Uganda and Zambia, face quite some challenges in regards to their Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights. First of all is feminization of poverty. Poverty takes a feminine face. So you find adolescent girls in Kenya, and also in Uganda and in Zambia, most of them live in informal settlements or in rural areas or in refugee settings. So because of son preference and heteropatriarchy here in Africa, you find if there is an adolescent girl and an adolescent boy who are in the same class or in the same grade, for example, and the family is going through a financial hardship, the girl will be supposed to drop out and give the chance to the adolescent boy. So you find adolescent girls are married off when they are quite young and this increases the prevalence of Child Early and Forced Marriages.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>Ruth (05:06):<\/strong> So adolescent girls are married off without their consent and it is their parents or their guardians who consent for them, and this limits their knowledge of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights. So the CSE (Comprehensive Sexuality Education), even if it's there in some countries where the project is being implemented, it is not comprehensive. It is not evidence-based. It is not scientific and age appropriate. So you find this adolescent girl who has been married off, let's say at 14 or at 15, they do not know, even if they want to delay pregnancies or they don't want to have a child, they do not have the capacity to make that decision on their own. Why? Because of patriarchy. It the men who make decisions at the household level. Also, these adolescent girls do not know, even if they want to reduce their chances of getting pregnant or not want to get pregnant at all, they are not using any modern method of contraception simply because of poverty and also the norms and attitudes of health care providers in the region.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>Ruth (06:18):<\/strong> You find health care providers perceive adolescents to be a young group. So they think they are asexual who do not need the SRHR services. So adolescents are chased in health facilities. Another thing is the policy gaps that we have in the country and also in Uganda and Zambia. So you find that we have good policies on Sexual and Reproductive Health here in Kenya, but then the problem is with the implementation. We have, for example, a very good policy now that\u2019s in the pipeline called the National Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Policy that is still under review, but then you find the adolescent who's supposed to be impacted by this policy, they don't know. So people who are foreign to the needs of adolescents are the ones who are involved in the policymaking and policy review processes. So for me, I think those are the main challenges that adolescents are facing in Kenya and Uganda and Zambia, and also in relation to laws and policies are the issue of third party consent.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>Ruth (07:29):<\/strong> For example, you find for an adolescent to access safe abortion, they need to be accompanied by their parent or their husband. So there is no room for confidentiality because the adolescent is judged. Another thing is also blanket criminalization of consensual and exploitative sexual relationships between adolescent girls and boys. I'll give you an example because it's something that happens so much here in Kenya and also in Uganda. You find there's an adolescent girl who's 16 and there's an adolescent boy who's 17 and the UNCRC (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child) and the African Children's Charter clearly say that it gets to a point where adolescents are able to consent to services according to their age of maturity. It does not really matter if they are 18 or not. The two policies say that it reaches a point where adolescents\u2019 evolving capacities should be taken into consideration, but then you find our local laws on the ground still criminalize consensual sex among adolescents leading to imprisonment of adolescent boys and also lack of access to SRHR services like safe abortion to adolescent girls. So until we have enabling policies on SRHR and until we shift the norms and practices of health care providers and of parents, I think that's when we will be able to advance the Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights of adolescents in Kenya, Uganda and Zambia.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>Amal (09:11):<\/strong> Thank you so much Ruth. You mentioned a few challenges like feminization of poverty and provider challenges. So what are some of the ways that the SHE SOARS project has been beginning to address these gaps and challenges so far?<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>Ruth (09:27):<\/strong> So as you know, the SHE SOARS project is a multi-stakeholder project. By the end of the project, we want to increase enjoyment of fundamental human rights in relation to adolescents, both girls and boys. So we have four pillars in the project. We have the first pillar, pillar 1100, that aims to create an enabling environment to adolescents so this means it aims to create demand for SRHR services to adolescents through having role model boys\u2019 and girls\u2019 curriculums where in these curriculums boys and girls are trained on how to demystify the misconception of masculinity, especially for boys, and how to deconstruct patriarchy, which is always socialized to adolescents while they grow up. Through pillar 1100, the project partners, who are CARE and Restless Development, and also the local implementing partners hold intergenerational dialogues with parents and religious leaders so that they debunk myths and norms about Sexual and Reproductive Health needs and rights of adolescents.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>Ruth (10:42):<\/strong> And we also have a component of Youth Loan and Savings Associations because as you know, Sexual and Reproductive Health goes in hand with economic empowerment. So what the project is currently doing is those adolescents who do not want to go back to school are trained on economic empowerment measures and how to start a saving culture when they are young. And then we have another pillar, pillar 1200, which aims to strengthen health systems. So I mentioned in the barriers previously that health care providers are one of the biggest challenges to adolescents accessing Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights. So because, you know, the equilibrium balance: demand goes in hand with supply. So when there is increased demand, we also want there to be increased services. So training health care partners and training health care providers on Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights of adolescents and ensuring that they change their perceptions about adolescents\u2019 Sexual and Reproductive Health.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>Ruth (11:51):<\/strong> One thing about SHE SOARS is we are doing, through pillar 1200, something called a whole facility training approach where teams \u2013 CARE, Restless Development and local partners \u2013 train everyone in the entire facility from the gate person to the receptionist to the health care providers. Then the health care providers are given a clinical training package in relation to their work. And then we have Pillar 1300 that Youth Coalition is co-leading with the Center for Reproductive Rights. And this pillar is on advocacy. So this pillar, what we do is intentionally capacity build grassroots women\u2019s rights organizations and youth-led organizations through provision of subgrants to them so that they can implement activities on SRHR advocacy. We also capacity build them to ensure that their advocacy is evidence-based and sustainable so that they're able to hold duty-bearers accountable in the regional level and also in the national level to ensure that the laws that are passed and enacted take a meaningful youth engagement perspective, addressing the unique needs of out-of-school adolescents. Then also the public engagement pillar, which you are leading. This pillar aims to engage Canadians as global citizens to foster cross-regional solidarity.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>Ruth (13:23):<\/strong> So the SHE SOARS project is a gender transformative and sustainable change project and it aims to tackle all the challenges that I mentioned holistically through different partners.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>Madeline (13:36):<\/strong> Thank you so much, Ruth. That's really interesting and really great to hear from someone who's really on the ground and seeing all the project activities firsthand. I know the project is still a bit in early stages at this point, but can you maybe tell us about any particular positive changes that you've already observed taking place in Kenya since the project has begun? Or if you can't think of anything off the top of your head, if there's a specific potential impact that you're most looking forward to achieving or hoping to achieve?<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>Ruth (14:07):<\/strong> So I'll say the project has really gained visibility here in Kenya and it's evident through social media and through the interactions, especially on LinkedIn, that we are having through the social media analytics. One of the impacts that we have done here in Kenya as partners implementing the advocacy pillar is last year we co-developed \u2013 Youth Coalition and the Center for Reproductive Rights \u2013 we co-wrote a submission to the head of reproductive health here in Kenya concerning the National Adolescent and Sexual and Reproductive Health Policy that is still under review. So as Youth Coalition, because we are the expert of MYE, Meaningful Youth Engagement and participation, we gave them some of the recommendations that they can apply when reviewing this policy to ensure it takes an MYE perspective and also the Center gave their vast knowledge on legal matters in terms of SRHR.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>Ruth (15:10):<\/strong> So through us coming together and collaborating, this submission was well accepted by the Ministry of Health and some of the provisions that we made were included in the draft by the Ministry of Health. So this shows that SHE SOARS is gaining some momentum and also some visibility on different project sites per se here in Kenya. So the final draft of this policy is not yet out but at least we know the Center for Reproductive Rights confirmed that some of the aspects that we gave to the government, the Ministry of Health, specifically around Meaningful Youth Engagement were incorporated. And once we have the final version of this adolescent health policy, this will be an advocacy win for the SHE SOARS project entirely.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>Lauren (16:01):<\/strong> Thank you so much for all of those insightful answers that really provided a lot of good context for us about what the project is actually looking like on the ground. So it's great to hear your perspective on that. Stay tuned for the next segment of this conversation where we are going to be talking about the role of youth engagement in this project and more broadly the role of youth activism in the global Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights movement. And we're luckily going to be joined by Ruth again for this conversation. So stay tuned for that.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>Madeline (16:27):<\/strong> Yeah, thanks everyone. Bye.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>Amal (16:29):<\/strong> Thank you.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>Lauren (16:30):<\/strong> Thanks.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>Ruth (16:31):<\/strong> Thank you. Bye.<\/p>\r\n<p>Amal (16:35): Thanks for listening to SHE SOARS. If you liked this episode, please share it on social media, connect with us in the comments or give us a like.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>Lauren (16:42):<\/strong> Make sure to catch our next episode by subscribing to our channel and following us wherever you get your podcasts.<\/p>\r\n<p>Madeline (16:47): Follow <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/carecanada\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@carecanada<\/a> on Instagram for updates on our show and the project.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>Lauren (16:54):<\/strong> <a href=\"\/?p=22813\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SHE SOARS<\/a> stands for Sexual and reproductive Health and Economic empowerment supporting Out-of-school Adolescent girls' Rights and Skills in Kenya, Uganda and Zambia.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>Madeline (17:04):<\/strong> The project is funded by Global Affairs Canada. Check out our global partner organizations:<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>Amal (17:09):<\/strong> Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights, the Center for Reproductive Rights and Restless Development for even more project updates.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>Lauren (17:18):<\/strong> Thanks again for listening. Until next time!<\/p>\r\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<!-- \/wp:fl-builder\/layout -->","_et_gb_content_width":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[33,2719,28,4,2857],"tags":[819,89,135,78,810,2524,470,67,137,2875,796,2353,2835,2834,601,2742,2276,2791,2270,2743,2790,889,2734,2732],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/care.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255621"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/care.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/care.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/care.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/care.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=255621"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/care.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255621\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":255780,"href":"https:\/\/care.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255621\/revisions\/255780"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/care.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/253420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/care.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=255621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/care.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=255621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/care.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=255621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}