Thanks to a four-year (2020-2024) contribution of $10.89 million from the Government of Canada through Global Affairs Canada, the Rights from the Start project, works in partnership with organizations across Latin America and the Caribbean to provide critical sexual and reproductive health services and information that advance gender equality and provide all people, including women and girls, the services and information they need to actively make decisions about their own bodies and lives.
The project provides funding to Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights, which in turn supports the activities of Its project partners Fòs Feminista (formerly IPPFWHR), Akahatá, CIES (Bolivia), CEPAM-G (Guayaquil, Ecuador), GRPA (Guyana), INNPARES (Peru), and Promsex (Peru) to deliver the work.
Access to sexual and reproductive health information, education, and services is a fundamental human right of everyone, everywhere. This project is part of our ongoing efforts to ensure that all people, including women and girls, are able to make decisions about their own bodies, with accurate information and access to the quality services they need and deserve.
– Kara Gillies, Executive Director, Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights
Lack of information on sexual and reproductive health and rights, gender inequality, and barriers to health facilities and services, create stigma around sexuality and result in high rates of sexually transmitted infections, unplanned pregnancies, and unsafe abortions--in addition to a lack of government accountability for the realization of sexual and reproductive rights.
Latin America and the Caribbean has the second-highest rate globally of adolescent pregnancies in girls aged 15 to 19. It is the only region in the world where this trend is rising, particularly in girls younger than 15 years old.
The Rights from the Start project uses a feminist and human rights-based approach to address these concerns by promoting and advancing sexual health information and rights in Canada and the region among women, men, and young people — especially adolescent girls.
The need for sexual and reproductive health services and information is especially urgent now. The pandemic and associated mobility restrictions and public healthcare funding changes have limited access to sexual and reproductive health services across the globe.
Action Canada and its Rights from the Start partner organizations across Latin America and the Caribbean are grateful for the support provided by the Government of Canada to continue to strengthen sexual and reproductive health services and programming in this challenging context.