#EsConESI / #ItsSexEd

In Latin America and the Caribbean, there’s a significant debt regarding Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE). There are a series of obstacles that hinder the effective implementation of CSE in the region. Despite variations between countries, due to factors such as socioeconomic frameworks, cultural aspects, the impact of religious institutions, and public demands regarding gender equality (among others), there are common grounds within countries in the region surrounding the perceptions and lack of implementation of quality CSE in which the new generations are most affected. Overall, barriers include low quality of services, self-reliance, concerns about confidentiality, and judgemental environments. The lack of support for active youth engagement contributes to increasing their vulnerability regarding sexual and (non) reproductive rights; exposing risks of experiencing physical and mental health issues, including sexually transmitted infections (STIs), unwanted pregnancy, gender-based violence, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), discrimination due to sexual orientation and gender expression, among many other. 

In addition, the persistent alarming levels of gender-based violence in the Latin American region reveal the importance of promoting CSE on a regional level. In Argentina in 2021, there were 251 victims of gender-based violence, of which 231 were direct femicides -226 were cis women, and 5 were trans women (CSJN Femicide Registry, 2021). Bolivia is one of the countries with the highest rates of violence against women in the region: 7.5 out of 10 women suffer some act of violence throughout their lives, while more than 100 women and girls are murdered each year for just being women (UNICEF Report 2021). In Paraguay, between 2019 and 2022, there has been one femicide every ten days, a total of 143 femicides (Observatorio de la Mujer PY, 2022). In Guatemala, in the first semester of 2022, there have been 376 femicides, a 48% increase compared to the previous year (PAHO, 2022). Violence against women in Peru is also daunting: three women were victims of femicide every ten days between 2015 and 2021 (Observatory of Violence against Women and Family Members, 2022). In Costa Rica, the Public Ministry received approximately 57 reports on gender-based violence-related crimes per day in 2021, a total of 21,000 reports throughout the year (Observatory on Gender Violence against Women and Access to Justice, 2022). 

Considering this context, the new generations have demonstrated they have a higher degree of awareness of the problem and many ideas to accelerate a cultural change towards a more just society. The lack of opportunities for youth participation in public policy-making diminishes the effectiveness of these policies because it disregards the particularities of this age group. Therefore, it is inevitable to include and focus on youth voices to constructively address the prevention of gender-based violence and the promotion of gender equity by implementing an effective and quality CSE.

We consider CSE a fundamental right. When guaranteed effectively, it has proven to be an essential strategy to contribute to the prevention of gender-based violence. Our program #EsConESI/#ItsSexEd aims to provide a safe space where youth activists between the ages of 15-25 can come together, express their demands and ideas, and co-create an advocacy strategy to promote the implementation of CSE in their countries. Based on the alliances formed with local organizations, the following countries have been selected to participate: Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Peru, Guatemala, and Costa Rica. 

Through virtual learning courses, provided for free via Zoom, we aim to provide peer-to-peer training opportunities for youth activists to boost their knowledge regarding CSE and empower their participation in public policy making. Our learning process provides a safe and non-judgmental environment where young people can express, discuss, deconstruct, reframe, and rebuild their ideals on an effective CSE which is gender and diversity sensitive. The overall aim is to strengthen youth activism, political participation, and knowledge regarding CSE and promote its effective and full implementation in the selected countries. 

Regarding the content of each virtual course, we count on 60 different materials and resources which have been produced by participants from previous editions, which are available for free on our #ItsSexEd website. In addition, there are 7 special reports written by young activists including practices to ensure youth participation and country reports on the situation of CSE. Taking into account the variations between local contexts, we will adapt the contents of CSE topics so they ensure relevance and reflect each country’s circumstances. 

The program will begin by selecting 100 youth activists representing the six mentioned countries; we will invite local partner organizations to choose 15-20 activists to participate in the capacity-building process. The training courses will be 100% virtual and will last five weeks. The course will contain the five CSE modules, adapted to local contexts, providing opportunities for dialogue, engagement, and networking. The ultimate goal of the learning process is for participants to co-create an advocacy initiative that contributes to guaranteeing CSE in their countries. We seek to develop at least one advocacy strategy per country, which may include a communication campaign, petition, or a country situation report on the status of CSE. The advocacy initiative will be published on social media and the #ItsSexEd website. 

In addition, we aim to develop a communications campaign to give visibility to the youth activists learning process, through social media, newsletters, and YouTube channels. As a result, we believe the program will indirectly reach more than 300.000 young people in the region.

Lastly, we will provide technical support for an incubation exercise in a selected country, which will be determined by the Team Leader and Coordinator according to contexts and identified opportunities. It will last 4-6 weeks and include the participation of four local youth activists, one mentor, and representatives of public institutions. Incubation models provide constructive opportunities to promote intergenerational dialogue and engagement in the design of policies aimed at guaranteeing CSE.

The program will directly impact project participants which will be 100 young activists between the ages of 15 and 25 years old from Argentina, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Guatemala, Paraguay and Peru. It is important to mention that during the selection, we will seek gender parity, where men and women, cis and trans, as well as migrants, indigenous and Afro-descendant people can participate. Furthermore, we seek to also target local youth organizations and contribute to its positioning and active engagement in terms of sexual and (non) reproductive rights, as well as, political advocacy. 

Along with training youth activists, we aim to indirectly impact 300.000 young people in the region  through communications campaigns on social media, dissemination of educational materials through our website. 

Lastly, we seek to impact a community as a whole, and particularly, public authorities who access the informative material co-created by youth activists. 

At Impacto Digital, we promote innovative, technological, measurable, and sustainable initiatives to solve specific social problems. Our team members come from diverse backgrounds, such as IT, communications, law, political science, human rights activists, and gender specialists, among others. In addition, our team has extensive experience in project management, data collection, monitoring and evaluation, finance, and accounting.

Most importantly, our purpose is to form teams for each program that include, and are led by, the target community it serves. In the case of #EsConESI, our team comprised of the following professionals and young activists:

• Team Leader: Gilma Vieira, Social worker, Gender specialist and Activist 

• Assistant Leader: Lu De Mateo, Feminist CSE activist, Political Science student. 

• Digital Education Coordinator: Luciana Demichelis, Specialist in Audiovisual Arts, Communication and Project Management. 

• Content development: Nikolas Gómez, non-binary trans CSE youth activist, law student with experience in design and evaluation of social projects.

• Communications: Eli Placci, Editor and Communication specialist 

• IT Leader: Anggie Manassero, IT specialist with experience in social project management. 

• Monitoring and Evaluation: Briselda Milián Lemus, Human Rights Activist and PHD Candidate with expertise in project management. 

• Institutional Development: Zulay Menéndez, International Relations, Human rights and Cooperation Specialist. 

We believe our solution’s mission aligns with Solve’s values and priorities. In particular, we consider education as a fundamental tool for social transformation by empowering youth activists and contributing to collectively building a more just and inclusive society. 

#ItsSexEd provides an inclusive approach that validates the youth’s voices and experiences in developing advocacy strategies to cultivate public policies that recognize and guarantee fundamental rights. By providing peer-to-peer training on civic skills, we empower young activists to gain ownership and push for change to jointly create a society free of discrimination, stigma, and violence that respects all sexualities and bodies and promotes positive gender relations. 

Due to financial barriers, our outreach, in terms of resources, is often limited; despite the pressing need to guarantee CSE at a regional level. With Solve’s support, we aim to expand our initiative, which has demonstrated positive results in previous editions implemented in Argentina and Guatemala, and replicate the #ItsSexEd program at a regional level. 

#EsConESI (#ItsSexEd) began in the year 2020 during the pandemic in Buenos Aires, Argentina as a result of the dissatisfaction of young people regarding the CSE they receive at academic institutions. At Impacto Digital, we believe that the voice of young people is frequently ignored or symbolically consulted, but not included by the State and organizations when coming up with solutions. Taking into account this context, it is inevitable to address the promotion of comprehensive health, with the voice of young people as a main focus. In this sense, strengthening the inclusion of youth participation in decision-making processes, allows these decisions to respond effectively to their real needs, promotes ownership and commitment to health interventions, and empowers them to enforce their rights. 

#ItsSexEd in Argentina was created with this exact goal, empowering young activists, between ages of 15-25, to guarantee and improve access to CSE through strengthening youth participation in public-policy-making. It was the first 100% virtual and free community-based learning platform regarding CSE in Argentina and in the region of Latin America and the Caribbean.  

Since the beginning of the program in Argentina, there have been more than 130 projects and initiatives led by youth activists from 15 provinces, of which 11 were provided technical support as part of an incubation program. In addition, since 2020, we have articulated with six organizations from 5 Latin American countries. Furthermore, we have carried out more than 30 training sessions on topics such as, CSE, youth participation, and advocacy. We have also developed alliances with nine public organizations and over 30 civil society organizations in Argentina. Overall in Argentina, more than 300 young activists between the ages of 15-25 years old have participated in incubation models and training processes, by which we indirectly reached more than 5,000 young people.  

Due to the impact of #ItsSexEd in Argentina, the program began to roll out further editions that continued to identify, expand and strengthen projects led by young people and activists, which contributed to gender-based violence prevention, HIV and STI prevention and boosted youth participation in the design of public policies which represented and guaranteed their rights. The use of social media as an educational instrument is one of the aspects of our program #ItsSexEd and has contributed to the catalytic effect reaching young people all over the region. 

Lastly, a central element of our program is the creation of Youth Roundtable plays a key role in determining contents for courses and promoting a Latin American youth activist community. 

Following #EsConESI's trajectory, we have developed a network of alliances around the region. Over the past three years, we have proven our capacity to articulate with various local partners, civil society organizations, and youth activists across countries. The present solution we are applying serves as an initial stage to expand our program at a regional level, starting with these six countries where we have firm support from local partners. Strengthening a local partners network is fundamental to roll out the program in 15 Latin American and Caribbean countries.

In addition, within the next five years, we aim to train 100,000 young leaders at a regional level on sexual rights and effective participation and advocacy strategies to advance the implementation of Comprehensive Sexuality Education in their countries. Through the strengthening of youth activists, we ultimately aim to influence policy-makers in developing and implementing a law that protects sexual and (non) reproductive rights and guarantees quality CSE in all Latin American countries. 

Progress will be measured through various indicators, for example, the number of young activists, who participate and complete the training process. In this regard, the participation and commitment of young people will be analyzed through their attendance at virtual meetings via Zoom, along with surveys completed at the beginning and end of the activity. 

We will monitor the project implementation on a regular basis to ensure that established objectives and goals are met and identify possible areas for improvement. 

Regarding #ItsSexEd outreach, we will also consider the number of decision-makers or public institutions which become part of the initiative or use an educational product/resource developed by #ItsSexEd participants. Including participating in the communication social media campaign, using #ItsSexEd educational videos to carry out a CSE course, etc.)

Along with outreach indicators, we will also consider the number of visits to our website and the number of downloads of the educational resources produced within the program. 

All initiatives related to follow-up and evaluation will be contemplated by the Program Coordinator.

Our community-based learning process focuses on Zoom. It will include weekly meetings and activities throughout five weeks. Each course will be one hour and a half and enclose one topic per week. During each virtual gathering, there will be interactive activities and mentorship opportunities with an expert team on CSE with representatives from each country. The team of experts will provide insights and advice on how to advance and co-design an effective advocacy strategy in each country.   

Another core technology that will power our solution is Social Media. Social Media is a significant tool in today's activism. Considering the role of Instagram in the daily lives of young people, our team will develop a communications and social media strategy to promote greater outreach and engagement with target audiences. Through educational Instagram Stories, and Instagram Live Sessions, which will include interviews with experts, mentors, and youth activists from other selected countries, we aim to raise awareness of CSE with a transversal and intersectional perspective, by providing knowledge and skills for youth audiences to realize their health, well-being and dignity, and the importance of protecting these rights. Ultimately, social media is a key instrument in producing a catalytic effect and replicating central values such as inclusion, non-discrimination, equality, empathy, and reciprocity throughout youth target audiences across borders. 

#ItsSexEd website will be the knowledge center of resources and materials produced by youth activist participants and a reference in community-based training programs. All materials will continue to be available for free and constantly updated. 

Diversity, equity and inclusion are at the heart of our organization. We uphold our organization to represent the communities it serves.

Our organization has various programs which advocate for human rights, within a transversal and intersectional perspective, and have specific target populations as beneficiaries: #EsConESI/#ItsSexEd works with young people and youth, Contratá Trans was created by and works with the travesti, trans and non-binary community, Dale Más Afro led by and works with afro-descendent population, Cuida Bien works with people who care for their families, mostly women. We believe the voices of these target populations are not being heard, and in turn, are not given an opportunity to occupy decision-making spaces. 

In our organization we believe that finding effective and innovative solutions to specific social problems means that the people whose experiences are affected by these problems lead each process. For that matter, our programs are represented and coordinated by members of the communities each program serves.

Over the past three years, all previous editions of our program have demonstrated results in guaranteeing financial sustainability. Furthermore, our fundraising team develops a medium and long term strategy to guarantee sustainability of our programs through grant-making, sponsorship, and private donations. 

Finally, our financial and fundraising team, made up of two professionals, are responsible for developing a medium and long-term strategy to guarantee sustainability of our programs through grant-making, sponsorships and private donations. Program and project leaders are responsible for allocating and executing their budgets assigned in coordination with the administrative team. Transparency is at the core of our organization, therefore, we publish an annual Transparency report on our website. 

Throughout past editions of #EsConESI/#ItsSexEd, we have counted on the following funding sources: 

1. August - December 2020 - "ESIgualdad: Youth Solutions to End Gender-based Violence" - USD $25,000 (US Dollars) - Spotlight Initiative, via UNFPA Argentina.

2. March - June 2021 - "#EsConESI: Youth Solutions to End Gender-based Violence" - USD $26,413.62 (US Dollars) - Spotlight Initiative, via UNFPA Argentina.

3. July - November 2021 - "#EsConESI: Youth Solutions for HIV and STI Prevention" -  USD $18,000 (US Dollars) - UNAIDS, via UNFPA Argentina

4. August - December 2021 - "#EsConESI - Youth Perspectives on CSE in Latin America" - USD $14,502.78 (US Dollars) - FosFeminista. 

5. April - November 2022 - "#EsConESI- Strengthening of active youth participation to Prevent Gender-based Violence" - USD $43,000 (US dollars) - Spotlight Initiative, via UNFPA Argentina.

6. February - November 2022 -  "Regional #EsConESI - Guarantee Comprehensive Sexuality Education in Latin America through active youth participation" - USD $50,000 (US dollars) - FosFeminista.

7. March - October 2023 -  "Regional #EsConESI -  Guarantee Comprehensive Sexuality Education in Latin America through active youth participation" - USD $25,000 (US dollars) - FosFeminista.