Sustaining SRHR activism over the long term

“[W]hen we come together—sharing knowledge, strategies and support—we build a movement that can’t be ignored,” reflected Sharaban Tohura of Nijera Kori. Last fall, Sharaban travelled across eastern Canada alongside Estephanie Brigatay and Wendy Barreras Rivas, representatives from two other long-term Inter Pares counterparts. Together, they shared stories about their decades of work promoting SRHR in Bangladesh, the Philippines and El Salvador. Their work has been underway for decades.

At Inter Pares, we look for ways to strengthen what our counterparts are already doing. This enables them to build networks, increase services and reach more and diverse people. It is also an act of trust in our counterparts—that they know best how to meet the needs of their communities. 

In 2019, we secured five years of funding from Global Affairs Canada to do just this: scale-up the work of four long-term counterparts through Building Momentum for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights. With this funding, they were able to:

• Expand access to free contraception for marginalized women and girls in the Philippines;
• Create spaces for youth to rally against child marriage and harassment in Bangladesh;
• Amplify efforts to promote abortion rights and provide comprehensive sexuality education to youth in El Salvador; and,
• Deepen supports to survivors of gender-based violence and promote SRHR education amongst young people in Sudan.

Counterparts also learned from each other and built solidarity across borders.

While the funding from Global Affairs Canada to our counterparts comes to an end in February, our commitment to our counterparts did not. The scope of their work may change in the absence of large-scale funding, but with the support of generous supporters like you, we can hold the line and continue moving towards a more just, equal future. Advancing SRHR is not defined by the duration of a single project, but by the interconnected social justice movements we build together over the long term. 

We look forward to building on this momentum to advance SRHR for years to come.