Day one of the Forum, entitled Understanding the SRHR Landscape, welcomed participants into the virtual space with a land acknowledgement and opening remarks from María René Tapia:

“What better way to vindicate our rights than in harmony with the bodies and territories we inhabit.”

The first session, entitled The Power of the Collective in Resisting the State and Visioning Our Futures, featured Roland Jones (artist, educator), Sarahí Maldonado (Las Comadres) and Debbie Owusu-Akyeeah (The Canadian Centre for Gender & Sexual Diversity (CCGSD)).

Roland Jones highlighted the vital work of reclaiming and Indigenizing sexual and reproductive health care teachings, practices, and tools as an act of resistance to the ongoing legacy of colonization:

“Translating the information I’ve learned around sexual and reproductive health care using a culturally appropriate lens and incorporating these conversations into my Indigenous community is a form of resistance.”

Jones further emphasized the need to strengthen links between Indigenous land sovereignty and the ways we care for our bodies: 

“The land can connect us, our values can connect us, our love for sexual and reproductive health can connect us.”

Sarahí Maldonado, member of feminist network Las Comadres, outlined the landscape of SRHR in Ecuador, highlighting the struggle against the criminalization of abortion. She traced the history of

Las Comadres’ work as they encountered the limits of simply providing access to information about safe abortion and shifted their work towards facilitating access to affordable drugs/medication for self-managed abortion, particularly for marginalized women, trans and non-binary people who otherwise could not access abortion services.

Debbie Owusu-Akyeeah closed the evening session with a powerful call for dreaming and collective care in struggles against systemic violence:

“Our dreams are the blueprint for the future we are fighting for…It’s more important than ever to lean into our dreaming and our radical imagination to push back against the status quo.”

Debbie identified the urgent need to strengthen transnational solidarity in the face of mounting transnational fascism, speaking specifically to links between 2SLGBTQIA+ youth in Ghana and in the Canadian diaspora who are fighting anti-2SLGBTQIA+ legislation in Ghana.

Day two convened under the heading of Youth sovereignty, strategies, and skill-sharing. In the first session, In and out of youth spaces: making, taking, and sharing space, Eunice Leyva García (Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights) & Valeria Vásquez (Jóvenes RedLAC) led a mini workshop entitled Assessing and addressing unequal power dynamics. The workshop mapped out power dynamics across multiple sites of youth SRHR work, and called out barriers to building youth power, such as gatekeeping, tokenization, and lack of access to resources and reciprocity. The speakers outlined key principles of feminist spaces (see the Young Feminist Manifesto) and emphasized the importance of intergenerational dialogue and alliance-building while making space for new generations of youth organizers.

“It is important to share spaces and open the door for other youth activists to have a seat at the table." - Eunice Leyva Garcia

In Engaging and addressing adult allies, gatekeepers, and stakeholders Erika Dupuis (International Youth Alliance for Family Planning, Canada) & Charlie Andrés Acosta (Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights) led a mini workshop that examined strategies for assessing, engaging and building reciprocal relationships with adult stakeholders in SRHR work. The speakers encouraged youth advocates to draw support from allied stakeholders while remembering to walk away from relationships that no longer serve their work.

“Be unwavering in your values, your ethics, and your mission. Demand for your rightful spot in an organization, in a project, in an initiative, whatever you are doing.” - Erika Dupuis 

The afternoon continued with a session entitled Anti-oppressive messaging: Breaking down barriers through the power of the collective, featuring Fae Johnstone (Wisdom to Action, Canada) and Sofía Regalado (Morras Help Morras, Mexico). Both speakers addressed the importance of stepping out of dominant modes of analysis, communication, and action. Johnstone outlined the need for accessible, intentional, and effective communication to reach new audiences, while Regalado spoke about the urgent need to redefine SRHR values and advocacy by abandoning racist, colonial perspectives and centering the priorities of youth on the margins.

“If you don’t listen, you don’t learn.” - Sofía Regalado

In the mini workshop Owning the narrative: anti-oppressive messaging, María León González (Youth Coalition, Mexico) provided a practical methodology for craIing anti-oppressive messages. González called on advocates to uplift marginalized voices without placing the burden on people with lived experience to speak up.

In the final mini workshop session on Artivism, Luis Matus & Mar Coyol presented Muéganxs (Mexico), a creative network for sexual and gender non-conforming people using multimedia art and cultural interventions to spark dialogue and instigate action by-and-for people living with HIV and the broader 2SLGBTQIA+ community.