Introduction
In November 2021, more than 30 youth advocates came together across Abya Yala, the region known as the Americas, including Turtle Island, for the 2nd Rights from the Start Forum. The Forum, entitled Youth in Action: Mobilizing for Sexual Rights, was convened by Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights, under the leadership of the Youth Steering Committee, co-chaired by the Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights. The Forum aimed to build alliances and solidarity across movements, share knowledge, strategies, and experiences between peers, and address critical issues in sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). The Forum featured sessions led by youth SRHR advocates as well as self-directed breakout conversations focused on building collective power and strengthening meaningful youth engagement and leadership in SRHR activism and advocacy.
This report provides a snapshot of the Forum, draws out key knowledge outcomes, and highlights the central role of youth leadership in the design and delivery of the event.
Land Acknowledgement
The virtual Forum was organized and took place across multiple Indigenous territories in regions known today as Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) and Canada. The Forum was grounded in participantsʼ individual and collective relationships to the territories they joined from, and situated SRHR work as a necessary site of active decolonial resistance across Abya Yala/the Americas. The office of Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights is located on unceded, unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin Anishnaabe nation whose presence on this land dates from time immemorial. We wish to affirm the inherent rights and treaties of all the Indigenous Peoples of this land and beyond.
Background
The first Rights from the Start Cross-Regional Forum, held in March 2021, laid the groundwork for the November 2021 Forum. Participants from the March Forum highlighted the need for youth-led opportunities to strengthen connections between movements and to share tools, resources, and strategies by and for youth, and to foster autonomous space for youth-led knowledge exchange and co-creation.
Designing the Forum: Youth leadership in action
Youth leadership and expertise were prioritized throughout the design and delivery of the Forum. The Youth Steering Committee (YSC) brought together five youth leaders to develop the Forum in collaboration with Forum facilitators and Action Canada. The YSC met twice in anticipation of the Forum to define priority thematic areas and the overall agenda, to determine the forum format and modalities, and to create an empowering, participatory, and collaborative space for youth advocates. The YSC was co-chaired by the Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights alongside other youth-led organizations from across what is known as Canada and Latin America, and the Caribbean (LAC).
"I want participatory, inclusive, and fun youth spaces - where gratifying proposals and conclusions can emerge and we can begin articulating and generating new actions."
María René Tapia
"I demand youth spaces that include and visibilize sexual diversity."
Arquimedes Reyes
“I want youth spaces that challenge the status quo and push back against adult gatekeepers.”
Debbie Owusu-Akyeeah
“I demand youth spaces that promote inclusion, diversity, and accessibility.”
Topaza Yu