Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Across Borders

Likhaan Center for Women’s Health. La Colectiva Feminista. Nijera Kori. Sudanese Organization for Research and Development (SORD). These four organizations are from four different countries, each with its own language and history, unique culture, and particular social and religious traditions. But
within diverse contexts they are all struggling for social justice and women’s rights.

Drawing on years of collaboration with these organizations, Inter Pares successfully applied to the Canadian government to fund our new Building Momentum for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights program. Leveraging Global Affairs Canada support allows these organizations to expand their programming with significant additional resources over four and a half years. What brings these seemingly disparate organizations together? All are based in socially and religiously conservative countries that rob women and girls of their full potential. They all recognize patriarchy as the root cause of the barriers that their work addresses. Each organization works directly with the grassroots while also doing policy advocacy to catalyze systemic change. All identify staunchly as feminist and are key actors in their own domestic women’s rights movements. The work of each organization within Building Momentum is designed to defend the physical autonomy of women and particularly adolescent girls; to give them choices regarding their health and security; to help them realize their rights and fulfill their aspirations.

La Colectiva Feminista, in El Salvador, has a special focus on reproductive
rights in a country that jails women who have had illegal, unsafe abortions, or even miscarriages that are wrongly labelled as abortions. They also
confront the broader issues of violence against women. Nijera Kori, in Bangladesh, accompanies marginalized rural women and men as they organize, learn their rights and mobilize to defend them. They also address issues of child marriage and dowry, women’s access to health services, and
domestic violence. Likhaan, in the Philippines, addresses the high adolescent pregnancy rate – a leading cause of maternal mortality – through education and reproductive health services for adolescents. Finally, SORD, in Sudan, works to change legally enshrined discrimination that promotes a culture of violence against women and girls and that criminalizes basic rights, such as walking unaccompanied in public.

Each of these incredible organizations has a long relationship with Inter Pares, sometimes more than 30 years. We have a bond based on mutual trust, accountability, and shared values. When we came together from around the world to plan Building Momentum, though some of the groups hadn’t met each other before, there was an immediate connection.There was warmth and laughter. There was vibrant discussion and respectful disagreement. There were conversations about feminism, solidarity and how we could learn from one another to make individual programs better. We shared ideas and began to build and strengthen our relationships with each other, and we looked to a future where women and girls are full and equal members of society.