Lead on Canada, an innovative public engagement campaign coordinated by CanWaCH, amplified the voices of CanWaCH members as a community of champions dedicated to advancing the health, rights and wellbeing of women, children and adolescents around the world.
Among other campaign activities, CanWaCH worked closely with the HealthBridge Foundation of Canada to bring public attention to the 20th anniversary of the Monument to Canadian Aid Workers by producing an engaging video about its history and significance in both official languages.
CanWaCH’s public engagement work also found success in translating complex CanWaCH member project data from the CanWaCH Project Explorer into straight-forward digital content, producing a series of infographics known as ‘Impact Stories’. These stories highlighted the positive impact of Canada’s investments in global health.
Over the past year, CanWaCH has grappled with the incredibly important question of how to bring the localization agenda to our Canadian public engagement work. This is complex. We need to meet Canadians ‘where they are at’ using clear and simple language – a strength of our Lead On Canada campaign. Yet it is also our responsibility to dismantle the systems that hold people back, to create the conditions that affirm their leadership and re-centre the voice and role of local actors, while acknowledging Canada’s role as a bold supporter and contributor to objectives defined by local communities.
Moving forward, CanWaCH will approach our work to engage the public with humility, acting in solidarity and partnership with local organizations and community leaders. We will strive to ground our work in the 94 Calls to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to uphold the health, rights and wellbeing of women, children and adolescents around the world. It is through our collective power that we will be able to forge a new path forward that ensures equal futures for everyone, everywhere.
Program undertaken with the financial support of the Government of Canada provided through Global Affairs Canada.
