Its the time of year to introduce our latest cohort of participatory grantmaking grantees, and meet the 17 organisations funded through Share-Net International’s 2024 participatory grantmaking cycle and their exciting SRHR projects!

Share-Net International (SNI) is delighted to announce that 17 grants have been awarded to Share-Net members in the 2024 Knowledge Activation Grantmaking round! More than 100 proposals from 34 countries were submitted last autumn, nd 17 projects were selected through the participatory selection procedure, handing the selection process over to the applicants in the Share-Net Community. In total, 11 Knowledge Translation grants, four Knowledge Generation Grants, and two Knowledge Collaboration grants were awarded. SNI extends a huge congratulations to all the grantees! 

“A big thank you and congratulations to the members of the Share-Net community for their active participation in the 2024 Activation grants. The participatory grant-making process has again been beneficial for our members. In addition to allowing them to have decision-making power over which Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) projects to finance, it was an opportunity for our members to learn from each other, exchange ideas, and connect.” – Amie Ndong, Grant Lead at SNI

The 2024 grantees are poised to conduct a variety of groundbreaking projects covering adolescents’ sexual health, abortion discrimination and stigma, access to sexual and mental health, menstrual equity, the impact of climate change on women’s and adolescents SRH, disability inclusive SRHR, and anthropological contributions to the future(s) of SRHR, and more. Over the coming months, we’ll share more about each project via the Share-Net International social media channels, and you can join our Knowledge Product showcase (tentatively planned in September 2024, check out last years edition here), where our grantees present their projects’ knowledge products, offering an opportunity to hear the latest grant project developments and research! 

The 2024 Grant Projects: An overview 

The full list of the 2024 grantee projects and links to the grantee’s websites for further information can be found below.  

A qualitative exploration: How sexual and reproductive health of women and adolescents is impacted in coastal Bangladesh by climate change and sea level rise-induced salinity intrusion 

Grantee: International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Bangladesh

Grant Type: Knowledge Generation Grant

Project: This Knowledge Generation project intends to foster a more sustainable and inclusive future for women confronting climate-related SRH challenges in Bangladesh. A dedicated study will assess the voices and experiences of women in climate-affected coastal regions. The study will unveil the hidden challenges they face, including gynecological problems, infections, and the misuse of birth control pills, which are used to stop menstruation to minimize suffering incurred due to the use of saline water intrusion for hygiene, bathing, and livelihood activities. 

Bridging the Gap: Ending the Triple Threat (B-GETT)  

Grantee:  Haven Of Dreams, Kenya

Grant type: Knowledge Translation Grant

Project: This translation grant seeks to create informative resources that guide organisations, Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) facilitators, and participants in effectively planning, mobilising, and implementing online CSE sessions. The resources which will be developed will be available in multiple formats including PDFs, hard manuals, and shareable multimedia, aim to provide insights on transitioning participants into the online CSE environment and assessing outcomes. 

Developing Lamu County SRHR Policy: A Sustainable Model for Addressing the SRHR Needs of Women and Young People in Lamu County, Kenya  

Grantee: The Toto Centre Initiative, Kenya

Grant type: Knowledge Translation Grant

Project description: This knowledge translation project will enable the development of the first Lamu County SRHR Policy that shall sustainably address all SRHR needs of our girls and women in Lamu County. The Lamu County government in Kenya is yet to domesticate the National Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Policy (2015), and therefore this makes it difficult for the County government to be able to address sexual reproductive health needs of Adolescent girls and women in the County. In addition, Lamu County is one of the most rural and marginalized counties in Kenya, where communities still live from decisions made by men, including access to SRHR. Religion and cultural beliefs are still the strongest pillars that inform many decisions. The SRHR Policy will be a guiding document for all state and non-state actors working to support the SRHR needs of women and girls in the County. 

Education and awareness project on SRHR

Grantee: Convergence pour le Développement Durable (CODD),Burkina Faso

Grant type: Knowledge Translation Grant

Project: CPDD’s project intends to create positive and lasting change in the understanding of SRHR in Burkina Faso, contributing to more informed policies and increased rights-respecting practices. The CODD will create an interactive online platform featuring a variety of resources including articles, educational videos, and downloadable guides, to raise awareness and educate diverse communities about SRHR. Through in-depth research, CODD will write reports and white papers highlighting trends, challenges, and opportunities in the field, host online and offline awareness campaigns, educational seminars in schools, and training courses for health professionals to improve understandings of SRHR. Multimedia materials such as educational videos and podcasts will be produced to appeal to wider audience, and the project will encourage advocacy for SRHR-friendly policies through advocacy materials and meetings with decision-makers. 

Empowering Internally Displaced People: Enhancing SRHR in Displacement Camps 

Grantee: Good Samaritan Association (GSA), Ethiopia  

Grant type: Knowledge Translation Grant

Project description: GSA intends to improve SRHR outcomes and the general welfare of the residents of the Debere Birhan Vicinity, by empowering professionals, researchers, and decision-makers to contribute more wisely and effectively. GSA intends to accomplish this by fostering teamwork and the spread of comprehensive, current SRHR information. The purpose of this project is to enhance the accessibility of knowledge and skills about sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) for scholars, practitioners, and decision-makers. Closing major knowledge gaps in SRHR is the aim of this field, which addresses its scientific, political, and practical aspects. The program recognizes the need of promoting meaningful learning exchanges among different stakeholders in the Debere Birhan area, Amhara region, and Ethiopia. It emphasizes how knowledge must be applied to direct the creation of SRHR practices and policies that are supported by evidence. 

Empowering Maternal Health and Sexual Reproductive Rights in Iraq: A Multifaceted Approach  

Grantees: Regional Advocacy for Women’s Sustainable Advancement (RAWSA, Alliance for Africa and Arab states), and Najeen for Family Democratizing Organisation, Egypt

Grant type: Knowledge Collaboration Grant

Project description: RAWSA and Najeen for Family Democratizing Organisation will address the critical issue of maternal health within the context of SRHR in Iraq. Recognising the multifaceted challenges facing women in Iraq during pregnancy and childbirth, this initiative adopts a comprehensive approach to improve maternal health outcomes and empower women to make informed choices about their reproductive well-being. 

Frames of Resilience: A Graphic Medicine Journey within Endometriosis Gender Galaxy  

Grantee: Treat it Queer Foundation | Radboud UMC, The Netherlands

Grant type: Knowledge Translation Grant

Project description: Treat it Queer will transform existing medical knowledge about endometriosis in Transgender and gender diverse (TGD) individuals, into a graphic medicine comic. Key objectives include reshaping the endometriosis narrative toward gender inclusivity, raising awareness of its high prevalence in the TGD community, and educating healthcare providers on TGD-sensitive diagnostics and treatments. 

From Theory to Practice and Back: Anthropological Contributions to the Future(s) of SRHR  

Grantee:  Health, Care, and the Body Research Group | University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Grant type: Knowledge Translation Grant

Project description: This Grant will support disadvantaged young scientists or activists (for example, those with disabilities and/or people in LGBTQIA+ groups) from Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Colombia, Ethiopia, or Jordan, to attend this international conference “From Theory to Practice and Back: Anthropological Contributions to the Future(s) of SRHR” from the 3-5 July 2024 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. At this knowledge-sharing event, different knowledge products will be created, such as a website to promote a youth-led podcast, Policy Briefs and, and a peer-reviewed ‘Special Journal Issue’ presenting all the conferences papers and findings. 

Improving access to sexual and mental healthcare services for asylum-seeker men  

Grantee:  The Liberation Project, Netherlands

Grant type: Knowledge Generation Grant

Project description: This project aims to gather qualitative data, raise awareness among survivors, and empower men. By providing a platform for survivors to share experiences and fostering a sense of community, the intervention aims to bridge the information gap using artistic tools like storytelling. At the core of the problem statement is a critical data gap regarding the prevalence of sexual trauma among men aged 20 to 40 in asylum seeker centers. This information void obstructs targeted interventions and support systems, impeding our understanding of the short, medium, and long-term consequences on their health, social integration, and economic stability. To address these challenges, our proposed intervention comprises of workshops and a performance. The expected outcome is a comprehensive policy brief, a crucial tool for advocating improved policies and procedures. This document addresses the data gap while empowering survivors. 

Investing in Our Future: Addressing the Needs of AGYW in their diversity living with HIV and AIDS in Malawi

Grantee: Reach Girls, Malawi

Grant type: Knowledge Translation Grant

Project description: This knowledge translation project will increase and enhance youth knowledge on SRHR issues including the policy products within SRHR documents in Malawi. This will primarily focus on unwanted pregnancies, which have increased unsafe abortion rates among young people. The project will reach young people in the rural communities of the Salima District district, including adolescent girls and boys so that young men also understand issues affecting adolescent girls, like unwanted pregnancies which lead to high cases of unsafe abortion.

Quality Menstrual Health for Women and Girls with Disabilities in Dzaleka Refugee Camp 

Grantee:  Umunthu Radio station, Malawi

Grant type: Knowledge Translation Grant

Project description: The project will contribute to enhanced capacity and knowledge of women and girls living with disabilities within and surrounding Dzaleka refugee Camp in central Malawi, enabling them to access quality menstrual health management (MHM)/SRHR information and services through increased knowledge and practices on MHM policies, and reduced cases of stigma and discrimination. The project will simplify and disseminate policy documents and laws of Malawi governing SRHR and reproduce them in braille, audio and video formats, and sign language interpretation, as well as translations to different languages suiting refugee members. The project further utilises training and awareness to build the capacity of women and girls with disabilities, facilitates engagement with duty bearers on SRHR friendly delivery information and services among women and girls living with disabilities, and will hold a national symposium for policymakers and other stakeholders.

Sexual education is NOT an option; it is a right 

Grantee:  Fundación Sergio Urrego, Colombia  

Grant type: Knowledge Translation Grant

Project description: The objective of the project is to provide concise and adequate information on sexuality, and sexual and reproductive rights to boys, girls, adolescents, and young people aged 14 to 18. Five educational videos will be produced and published, addressing different topics of sexual education developed and supervised by health professionals, and presented by young influencers and YouTubers, women, and people belonging to the LGBTIQ+ community. 

The SRH situation of the older adult transgender population in Santiago, Chile  

Grantee: Asociación OTD, Chile

Grant type: Knowledge Generation Grant

Project description: This Knowledge Generation grant intends to raise awareness and provide tools for working on more inclusive public policies for the older transgender population, and improving the care they receive in the Chilean health system. The project will help increase the limited information available in Spanish about the SRHR situation by developing two knowledge products. These will collect participants testimonies and images, and bring them into contact with key actors including health authorities, health professionals, public libraries, and other civil society organizations in Chile. 

Towards disability inclusive SRHR  

Grantees: Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network (EDAN), and I Am Human Society for Rights of People with Disabilities, Jordan

Grant type: Knowledge Collaboration Grant

Project description: This collaborative project between EDAN and I Am Human Society for Rights of People with Disabilities aims to draft the curriculum for a rights-based, self-paced online course primarily addressed to youth with disabilities (18-35 years) in Jordan, tackling the topics of marriageability and SRHR. The process utilises Design Thinking, a human-centered and participatory approach for innovation, and will actively involve people with disabilities and various concerned stakeholders including their families, health workers, community leaders and policy makers, from design to testing and evaluation. An advanced version of the online course will be tested under the form of 12 hours of live webinars spread over eight weeks (1,5 hours per week), implemented in parallel with two groups who will experience and evaluate the course. 

Transforming Adolescent Sexual Health (TASH), Kenya

Grantee: Stretchers Youth Organization  

Grant type: Knowledge Translation Grant

Project Description: TASH addresses many challenges in Kwale County, Kenya, including high rates of teen pregnancies, drug and substance abuse, sexual and gender-based violence, and high rates of unemployment, among others. Underneath these challenges are harmful cultural and religious practices that impede efforts to address them. The factors that make adolescents and young people vulnerable to negative SRH outcomes are varied and would require a multi-sectoral response for them to be properly addressed. Therefore, good adolescent sexual health is the cornerstone of future healthy families and is essential for the development of optimal intimate and social relations, including gender equality. 

Uncharted Red Waters: Exploring Menstrual Equity of Selected Marginalized Communities in Bangladesh Through Policy and Action  

Grantee: The Give Bangladesh Foundation, Bangladesh

Grant type: Knowledge Translation Grant

Description: Unchartered Red Waters addresses the menstrual needs and challenges of marginalized communities that are often overlooked and left out. The project focuses on four marginalized communities with unique menstrual needs and challenges inside Bangladesh, including brothel-based sex-workers, Bede (a nomadic community), tea garden workers, and visually impaired individuals. Key outcomes include creating a research report documenting menstrual practices, needs, and challenges of these communities, followed by a policy brief addressing the menstrual equity of the participants. 

Understanding and Tackling Abortion Stigma for Change in SRHR Policies and Practices  

Grantees: The International Network for the Reduction of Abortion Discrimination and Stigma (inroads), and Women Help Women, United States

Grant type: Knowledge Collaboration Grant

Project description: This collaborative project led by inroads and Women Help Women will co-create and publish an online course focused on understanding and tackling abortion stigma, with the objective to achieve positive change in abortion policies and practices. The course will focus on the impact of abortion stigma on different levels of society, its effect on policies and practices for access to safe abortion, and expand into holistic security to counter the risks associated with working on this highly stigmatised area of SRHR. The project encompasses the connection with queer and disability justice, and self-and collective care. 

About SNI’s SRHR Knowledge Activation Grants 

SNI’s Knowledge Activation Grants aim to support SNI in strengthening linkages between research, policy, and practice through knowledge sharing, generation, and translation, and promoting the use of knowledge to develop better policies and practices in SRHR. Originally, SNI’s grants program aimed to fund applied research, the documentation of practices, and the creation of knowledge products to improve policy and practice in SRHR. Even though there are still knowledge gaps in SRHR, SNI’s Grants have shifted toward translating knowledge. Furthermore, SNI values of a rights-based approach, transparency, diversity, collaboration, integrity, safety, and courage, are reflected in the Knowledge Activation Grants focus.  All SNI members can address diverse topics of the SRHR agenda and can participate in the decision-making of the Activation grants through the participatory approach used in the grant-making process.  

To find out more about the Knowledge Activation Grants, please visit our Grant Information page. All members of Share-Net International, including members of the seven Share-Net hubs in Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Colombia, Ethiopia, Jordan, and the Netherlands are eligible to apply for grants. Please see our membership information page for further information about joining SNI, or find our membership registration form here.