After twelve and a half years, Technical Advisor on Gender and SRHR, Rachel Ploem, is leaving Rutgers. Throughout her time at the organisation, the combination of women’s rights and the positive engagement of men and boys was at the heart of her work, leading not only to shifts for the people she worked with, but also to Rutgers itself. Now, against the backdrop of the #MeToo movement and rising conservatism, she reflects.

“After taking part in the Gender Transformative Approach (GTA) Master Training series my way of thinking and working changed. Now, I automatically use a set of tools in my mind. I explore the harmful norms behind sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) situations. I view cases through human rights and intersectionality lenses, and I analyse all power dynamics that are involved. I feel that I gained a strong and clear position in regards to SRHR issues.”

Johnstone Kuya talks about his experience and challenges working as a National Programme Coordinator in Kenya for the programme Get Up, Speak Out (GUSO), one of Rutgers’ key programmes. In this programme, six alliance partners are collaborating in seven countries to improve young people’s sexual health and rights.

In September, a diverse group of change makers took part in the Rutgers Gender Transformative Approach (GTA) training, an intense 3-day gender transformative process. Rachel Ploem and Yuri Ulrichs provided the training course, which was the completion of a 2-year project, initiated by the Dutch Embassy in Bangladesh, aimed at reinforcing SRHR and creating a safe workplace without sexual harassment within NGOs, as part of EKN partnership.

The International Conference on Family Planning 2018 took place from November 12 to November 15 in Kigali, Rwanda. Rutgers was leading a number of side events at this conference. We summed up our ICFP experiences in a live-blog, which resulted in an inspiring recap.

In 2017, #MeToo shed light on gender-based violence (GBV) across the world. In the Prevention+ programme, Rutgers, together with partners Promundo and Sonke Gender Justice, work on preventing GBV by engaging men and boys. A year after #MeToo, Global Programme Manager, Ruth van Zorge reflects on how the movement has underlined the importance of this work and what the next steps should be.

Today is a day to draw global attention to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), which is our expertise! With 50 years of experience Rutgers is a leader in this field. Our researcher, Miranda van Reeuwijk explains the impact of our unique approach of combining research, advocacy and interventions - nationally and internationally.

Part of the Right Here Right Now strategic partnership, is that representatives of country platforms attend high-level, international events to advocate for better sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). Solange Mbaye, the National Coordinator of the RHRN platform in Senegal, took part in the United Nation’s High Level Political Forum (HLPF) in New York. This event aims to follow up on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals and Solange was able to accompany the official Senegalese delegation to many side events.

People regularly ask what the training sessions of Rutgers entail, for example on Comprehensive Sexuality Education. Maeva Bonjour, technical advisor at Rutgers, shares first hand her experiences in training people from 2 partner organisations in Benin.

A young girl's experience as a child bride, illustrating the importance of maternal health and rights and the reality of many young girl's lives. This contribution is a result of our work in Amman, Jordan and is also featured in, and in support of, the What Women Want campaign.