Resources

The Youth SpectActors project, implemented in Serbia, Romania, Latvia and Estonia, addresses the root causes of gender-based violence (GBV), namely traditional patriarchal systems based on harmful and rigid gender norms around masculinity and femininity, gender-based discrimination and unequal power relations. Young people are at the centre of our intervention, because of the far-reaching impact of GBV in their lives – as survivors, perpetrators, or bystanders. We believe that young people have a key role they play as change agents. To this end we run theatre-based workshops where boys and girls who participate literally walk in one another's shoes to help challenge and dismantle 'gender roles'. Gender roles are merely roles that we are playing all our lives, and this is why playing them on the stage makes perfect sense. By dismantling archaic stereotypes, we can foster equality and prevent violence and coercion within relationships. Relationship and sexuality education, in school settings and outside, plays a key role in ensuring the safe emotional and physical development of young people.

This is the Safe from sexual and gender-based violence (SfSGBV) toolkit. Its main purpose is to guide the delivery of sexuality education sessions that support young people at risk of marginalization to recognize and protect themselves from SGBV. The toolkit is designed for the use of experienced sexuality education educators. Equally, it is a valuable resource for young people interested to learn more about prevention of sexual and gender-based violence.   You can learn from the toolkit either through our interactive website or by downloading the resource below.

The period 2020-2021 was one of the most challenging in recent memory. COVID-19’s fierce sweep across the world has been demanding a bold response that simultaneously safeguards the health, social and economic gains achieved to date. The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the critical global challenges that cannot be tackled in silos by individual countries. Foreseeing the severe effects of the pandemic in developing contexts, movements have been calling for international solidarity and equality, including the centrality of SRHR therein. European governments have been responding to, joining and even leading these calls. This report analyses 2020 funding data and 2021 political stances adopted by twelve European governments and the EU institutions. As such, it assesses changes in SRH/FP funding pre- and post-pandemic for those specific donors and for the period at stake only - with other possible trends being observable only in the longer run. It also assesses, for the first time, European support to the broader SRHR agenda. This report shows that, instead of plunging contributions to SRH/FP in their international cooperation, European governments have in fact increased support in 2020: data collected indicates donors contributed 2.614 billion Euros to SRHR, this includes 1.447 billion Euros disbursed to SRH/FP, reaching a new maximum. 12 out of the 13 European donors under review either increased or maintained funding compared to the previous year. But even though official development assistance (ODA) has not fallen so far, it is important that European governments maintain and scale up their commitments. European donors continue to be vocal about the importance of SRHR in international development.  2021 introduced another ground-breaking platform to reinstate support to the SRHR agenda: the Generation Equality Forum, which aimed to advance the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. European donors pledged new support to SRHR in that context, but it remains to be seen how central this agenda will remain in development budgets.   For more detailed data and analysis, read the full report ‘European Donor Support to Sexual & Reproductive Health & Family Planning – With a Spotlight on SRHR. Trends Analysis 2020-21’  Read our factsheet summarizing the findings of the report.  Read the country and EU factsheets. The data can also be further explored on the online data dashboard here.

The European Week of Action for Girls (EWAG), that is annually organised to mark International Day of the Girl (11th October), gathers young advocates to advance girls’ rights and gender equality in the EU space. This year, it is providing a platform for girls to speak out about how the AU-EU Partnership can reflect their aspirations and unlock their potential. It is crucial that the strategy enables dialogue between both regions, allowing for mutual learning and joint and coordinated actions, especially on issues that affect girls and young women both in the EU and the AU - such as sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), Education and Economic Empowerment and Political Participation. Over the summer of 2021 the EWAG young advocates connected on several occasions to define their recommendations to the EU in four key areas. Read more below and watch our video summarizing youth advocates' recommendations.

When vulnerable communities, volunteers and professionals unite for reproductive freedom, they are a powerful force for change. Our short film features five stories that show how IPPF members in Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia are supporting the lifelong reproductive health and safety of Roma girls, women and young people, working on the multiple fronts necessary to improve access and uptake of quality family planning and maternal health care. Learn more about the My Body, My Rights project here. 

Covid-19 didn’t stop us! This year, we did things slightly differently, we’ll did it the youth’s way! To mark the International Day of the Girl (11th October) our coalition of nine Civil Society Organisations joined forces for the eighth time, bringing together a group of close to 30 young advocates, from Europe and Africa, who connected online to share their recommendations with European Union decision-makers.  This year’s EWAG focused on the relationship between the European Union (EU) and Africa. In the framework of EWAG the young advocates were provided a platform to speak out about how the EU-Africa partnership can reflect their aspirations and unlock their potential. The partnership reflected the points of views of both regions, allowing for mutual learning and joint and coordinated actions, especially on issues that affect girls and young women both in the EU and the Africa – such as sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), Education and Economic Empowerment and Political Participation. Over the summer of 2020 the EWAG young advocates connected on several occasions to define their recommendations to the EU in four key areas. Throughout the course of October, in light of the International Day of the Girl, they spoke out to EU decision-makers on distinct challenges girls face based on their age and gender and how they believe the EU-Africa Partnership could address their concerns to make sure it truly makes a contribution to girls’ lives and their futures. These are their asks.