voices from the grassroots:
COVID-19 and Women from the Global South
The Voices from the Grassroots (VfG) project was initiated by organizational and individual members of the Gender Equality Hub (GE Hub) of the Ontario Council for International Cooperation in April 2020. The objective of the VfG project was to document the impact of COVID-19 on the lives of women and girls in Afghanistan, Guatemala, Honduras, Kenya, Mali, Philippines, South Sudan, and Uganda. The project’s overarching goal is to amplify the voices of women and girls from these countries through stories of their lived experiences and their messages to world leaders, captured through a digital flipbook and shared through virtual events and social media campaigns.
Past Events
‘Voices from the Grassroots: Radical Solidarity’
March 25, 2022
Watch the recording here.
The ‘Voices from the Grassroots: Radical Solidarity’ session that took place on March 25 at the NGO CSW66 Virtual Forum ran in parallel to the official session of the CSW66.
Our challenging times call for radical solidarity to address the disproportionate impacts of climate change and disasters on women, children, the LGBTQ+, persons with disabilities, and the elderly. We welcomed a number of international speakers and participants to join this session, including:
- Ayesha Hassan – Associate Regional Director at Community World Service Asia, Pakistan
- Shobha Pradha Shrestha – Founder and Executive Chair of Women for Peace and Democracy, Nepal
- Yesenia Villalta – Project Coordinator for ADCASMUS, El Salvador
- Ruairidh Waddell – Regional Director for World Renew Asia, Cambodia
This event built on the Voices from the Grassroots flipbook and the Voices from the Grassroots Reflection Report, an initiative of the OCIC Gender Equality Hub compiling firsthand accounts from women and girls in Afghanistan, Guatemala, Kenya, Mali, Philippines, Uganda and South Sudan. Simultaneous interpretation was offered in English, French, Spanish and ASL.
Read the recommendations shared by Voices from the Grassroots: Radical Solidarity speakers on the themes of CSW66 (PDF) | (Word)
Roundtable Discussion
Voices from the Grassroots: COVID-19 and Women from the Global South
October 15, 2021
10:00 AM to 11:30 AM EST
Watch the recording here.
In honour of the International Day of Rural Women, the ‘Voices from the Grassroots’ working group of OCIC’s Gender Equality Hub is pleased to invite you to a roundtable discussion on Friday, October 15, 2021 from 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM EDT. This event builds on the Voices from the Grassroots flipbook, an initiative compiling firsthand accounts from Afghanistan, Guatemala, Kenya, Mali, Philippines, Uganda, and South Sudan to highlight the disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 on women and girls. This event will also coincide with the release of the ‘Voices from the Grassroots Reflections Report’, profiling the lessons learned and best practices for mobilizing voices from the grassroots, as well as recommendations for multiple stakeholders to better support and amplify voices from the grassroots.
Breakfast Dialogue: Voices from the Grassroots: COVID-19 and Women from the Global South
December 10, 2020
8:30 AM to 9:30 AM EST
Watch the recording here.
The Ontario Council for International Cooperation’s Gender Equality Hub commemorated Human Rights Day 2020 with a virtual Breakfast Dialogue, Voices From the Grassroots: COVID-19 and Women from the Global South, on December 10, 2020 at 8:30 am (EST). This dialogue focused on sharing experiences of women and girls from Afghanistan, Guatemala, Kenya, Mali, Philippines, Uganda and South Sudan, with the aim of amplifying their voices, showcasing their resilience, highlighting their unique challenges, and drumming up more support for stronger gender lenses in responding to the pandemic by all actors.
Participants had the opportunity to learn about this initiative and to hear directly from Carmen Zubiaga, a disability rights advocate from the Philippines; Carolyn Drileba, a young refugee girl from South Sudan currently living in Uganda; and Najia Zewari, an Afghan/Canadian, founder of Global Women’s Network, and member of OCIC’s GE Hub.
Over the past several months, individual members of OCIC’s GE Hub and those representing Canadian Executive Service Organization (CESO-SACO), World Accord, and World Renew have been working together to document the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on vulnerable women and girls from seven countries.
The women and girls have spoken of impacts such as increased debt loads, job and income loss, heightened levels of gender violence and assault, especially amongst young girls, increased crime amongst youth boys, food insecurity and hunger, transportation challenges, civil unrest, unresponsive and inconsistent governments, exacerbation of inequality and discrimination, especially for persons with disabilities, as well as increased mental stress. Their experiences echo those of women, girls and other vulnerable and marginalised groups across the world, including in Canada.
Their testimonials call upon us to increase our advocacy efforts for increased gender responsive approaches by all sectors in response to COVID-19, as well as in rebuilding societies after the pandemic. They further call upon us to strengthen our approaches to more deliberately include diverse and multiple stakeholders and at all levels, including amongst civil society, religious groups, the private sector, community-based organizations at the grassroots, with diaspora communities, etc.
Read the OCIC Gender Equality Hub International Human Rights Day Statement (PDF) / (Accessible Word Document).
