SHE SOARS

SHE SOARS changes the conversation on youth sexual health

• CARE Canada • Season 4 • Episode 4

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In this inspiring episode, Youth Champions Oliva and Lauren sit down with Lynn Chinene, Chief of Party for the SHE SOARS project, to discuss youth-led initiatives that are driving Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), financial literacy, and life skills in Kenya, Uganda, and Zambia. Lynn is the dynamic leader in Zambia who oversees the implementation and strategic direction of the SHE SOARS project across all three countries. She shares her perspective on supporting and uplifting youth voices, the project's different approaches, and how young people are transforming health services and decision-making spaces. The conversation highlights the evolution of youth engagement over the years and the power of youth voices to influence programs and policies from the grassroots to the national level. Learn about advocacy in international spaces and how a project like SHE SOARS engages young people to lead healthier lives and thriving communities long after the project ends.

SHE SOARS, funded by Global Affairs Canada, is the Sexual and reproductive Health and Economic empowerment Supporting Out-of-school Adolescent girls’ Rights and Skills project. Learn more at: https://care.ca/shesoarsproject

Episode transcripts are available in French and English at: care.ca/shesoars.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in the SHE SOARS podcast are the speakers’ own and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, standards and policies of CARE Canada. The SHE SOARS podcast is a youth-led initiative that provides space for young people to discuss global Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights with the purpose of raising awareness in Canada. Listeners acknowledge that the material and information presented in the podcast are for informational purposes only and do not constitute advice or services. The podcast is for private, non-commercial use and speakers do not necessarily reflect any organization they work for.

Paniz [00:00:00]: Hi, and welcome to SHE SOARS. Her voice. Her rights. 

Jacqueline [00:00:05]: We are CARE Canada's Youth Champions, a group of young people across Canada who are passionate advocates for Sexual and Reproductive health and rights (SRHR).

Paniz [00:00:13]: We're excited to discuss and raise awareness about young women's rights and choices in Kenya, Uganda and Zambia. ​

Jacqueline [00:00:18]: Together, we will explore how these global issues connect to our lives as Canadian youth and discover ways in which we can all take action. 

Paniz [00:00:26]: We will also talk about the SHE SOARS project, which improves access to health and education, which are areas we want to see change in. Join us!

Olivia [00:00:37]:

Welcome back everyone to the SHE SOARS podcast. We are so excited for you to join us for our first episode of 2026. My name is Olivia and I am one of our Youth Public Engagement Champion members. I'm a part of our YPEC cohort and I'm joined here today with Lauren.

Lauren [00:00:53]:

So today we're doing a deeper dive into the SHE SOARS project, a youth-led project that is improving young people's Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, SRHR, financial literacy and life skills in Kenya, Uganda and Zambia. And we're excited to hear from Lynn today, the Chief of Party who oversees the implementation of the SHE SOARS project in those three countries.

Lynn [00:01:13]:

Hi, it’s a pleasure to be on the podcast today. I'm super excited to have the opportunity to talk about the amazing work that the SHE SOARS family is doing to accelerate women and girls’ rights when it comes to sexual and reproductive health. It's my pleasure being here.

Olivia [00:01:29]:

Thank you so much. We are so excited to have the chance to chat with you and to be able to highlight some of the amazing work that is happening in the SHE SOARS project. So to start off, we're wondering, what does being the Chief of Party mean? And what does a day in your job look like?

Lynn [00:01:44]:

Okay, so being a Chief of Party just pretty much providing overall leadership of the program. I'm basically accountable for everything technically, financially. We need to make sure that the project is being implemented smoothly, recognizing that, of course, the project has so many players and so many organizations that come in to ensure that we achieve the project's objectives. So basically, I'm responsible for leading the entire team, setting strategy priorities to meet our donor goals, recognizing that the project is funded by Global Affairs Canada, which we're sincerely appreciative for, and basically representing the project both internally and externally, engaging different players, government officials, partners and young people.

We work with young people every day. You know, the project is youth-centered and youth-focused, making sure the project stays compliant with donor rules because when funding is given there are regulations that need to be followed. And also owning results, making sure that we are achieving the targets that we've set ourselves out to achieve – we're reaching the number of young people we say we're going to reach and we're achieving the impact that we want to see based off of the funding that has been given. So basically that's what being Chief of Party is and that's my regular day-to-day work life.

Lauren [00:03:09]:

That's so amazing. I feel like I'm talking to like a celebrity or something – like you just do everything. What would you say is like your absolute favourite part of your job?

Lynn [00:03:18]:

Working mostly with young people, facilitating places for them to be able to have the power to engage. For me, that's very fulfilling because when I was growing up, when I was a young person, you know, it was basically us adhering to the rules, adhering to law, adhering to the environmental demands that we were placed in and we rarely had a voice. When I say rarely, it was more one sided. But now we're living in an evolving world, an evolving culture where young people are actually beginning to be heard and being included.

Because what's the point of working to ensure young people's needs are accelerated if you're not giving them the platform to speak for themselves? Because they're better placed to determine what they feel will be good for them. So for me, what's so fulfilling is working with young people, hearing from them, hearing the amazing ideas and actually coining interventions or utilizing key messaging from the young people to ensure that we're propelling a conducive policy environment, a conducive legislative environment, and that decision makers and lawmakers are taking into account what young people want to see so they could thrive, so they could lead. For me, that's what's super exciting.

Olivia [00:04:38]:

That's amazing. I love how you highlighted how it's changed and how it's developing. It's really interesting to hear that perspective and it's so important to center those youth voices. It's so uplifting and encouraging to hear you speak on that. A large part of our role as YPEC is working with and advocating for youth. So how does the SHE SOARS project work with and champion youth?

Lynn [00:05:00]:

I'll speak at different levels of implementation. So you see, we are working in a number of communities across Zambia, Kenya and Uganda and we're working very closely with young people in those communities, with government officials, the ministries of health, working very closely with traditional leadership. So you know, on this side of the world we have traditional leadership, community leaders. Right? Considering that we live in a very traditional, customary society. And so traditional leaders are very influential when it comes to propelling social norms. So when we're engaging with community leaders, we make sure that young people are present in the room. Before, years back, young people were never allowed in spaces of decision-making, and this is not longer than five, 10 years ago.

Lynn [00:05:59]:

Now we are facilitating platforms where young people can actually sit with a decision-maker, with a community leader and actually be heard. And the contributions that the young people give help inform the decisions that the community leaders make, even with regards to access to contraception or SRHR services to ensure that they're youth-centered, they're youth tailored. We create platforms where young people are engaging with the ministries of health and also working with facility staff so that then young people are given the opportunity to acquire services that are tailored to their needs. And because of such platforms and such interventions, young people in some facilities have been accorded a specific day that just focuses on them. They've actually put together what we call youth-friendly spaces so that young people can freely dialogue to ensure that they can acquire the services that they need and speak to the issues that affect them. Because when it comes to service delivery, there are so many issues that come to play. 

Lynn [00:07:07]:

You know, attitudes of facility staff – sometimes the services are just tailored to women and men. Sometimes there have been cases where young people will be denied commodities for family planning because they're considered young and they shouldn't. So that's a whole different ballgame altogether. So those are one of the platforms we facilitated young people to engage and speak. And this has helped propel progressive change at the facility and community level. Also on a regular basis, we do facilitate intergenerational dialogues where we're bringing guardians, parents, young people and facility staff in one place, and we're talking about the issues that may be considered taboo in the home setting. Talking about sex with parents is a very heavy topic, regardless of where you may come from across the globe. So we facilitate platforms where young people are able to speak to the issues, what they're facing, and where they would need support from guardians, from parents, and also speak about the issues that really are quite uncomfortable to talk about.

Lynn [00:08:13]:

So at the community level, those are some of the spaces we work very closely with young people on. At the national level, with interventions such as SHE SOARS, we've actually seen governments put in place procedures or a policy that speaks to actually having young people present in every decision-making space, in every space of dialogue. It's actually embedded in policy. I'll speak for Zambia. Zambia actually has a national youth policy that actually speaks to empowering young people to be able to lead in certain spaces. And also when it comes to formulating national budgets, for example, and governments are putting together budgets for the next financial year, young people are also given the opportunity to scrutinize it. It's explained based off of the different capacities we are dealing with, because we do recognize that the capacities may be different. And then also we're working closely with out-of-school girls.

Lynn [00:09:10]:

So these are girls that are not in the system, that may not understand some of the technicalities, but these policies are taking into account those technicalities and giving those young people the voice to speak to some of these things. So that then when it comes to budgeting, resources are tied to youth needs that are urgent. At regional levels, we're working with youth-led organizations and women's rights organizations. We have young people engaging in a number of regional spaces. I don't know if you've heard of the African Union, where most of the African countries are members of. It's a regional economic community. And then there's the SADC, which is the Southern African Development Community, which is just like the UN (United Nations) but at southern African level. And then we work with the East Africa Legislative Assembly, the East Africa Commission.

Lynn [00:10:03]:

And so in those spaces, trust me, a few years ago it was just members of parliament and presidents and everybody making all these decisions. But now the dynamics have changed with interventions such as SHE SOARS. Young people are walking in those corridors and engaging heads of state and speaking to issues that are affecting them and they're actually being heard. So many examples I can share of where we work very closely with young people. I hope this helps put a picture to what SHE SOARS looks like on the ground. Yeah.

Olivia [00:10:39]:

Oh my goodness, thank you so much for sharing. It's so amazing to hear all of the different levels of the SHE SOARS project is working at. And there are so many amazing initiatives that this project is working on like the groups where parents are able to come in with youth and speak to service providers. That is so important. And you mentioned feeling stigma or shame around sex is not unique to any demographic. And we definitely see that with Canadian youth as well, where it is still kind of seen as like a taboo topic or a topic that people struggle to have conversations with – like my mom used to teach sexual health classes in high schools and still sometimes I'm like, whoa, oh my gosh.

Olivia [00:11:18]:

When you are working on removing that signal, it takes time and practice and it really takes like a whole community. And that is so incredible that youth are able to be in these decision-making spaces and the policies are being thoughtfully integrated into the systems that already exist, as you mentioned, like out-of-school girls or youth who maybe otherwise wouldn't be able to participate in these spaces. It's just amazing to see that it's accessible for youth. Sometimes you see with youth initiatives that there are barriers that exist in these spaces because they've created a project or a policy that they think will work with youth, but they haven't consulted youth. So it's really important to meet youth where they are. So it makes me so happy, like fills my bucket to hear that youth are really feeling empowered to be able to share their experiences and voices. So thank you so much for sharing.

Lynn [00:12:05]:

You know, I was pretty much giving external context. Internally as a project, we have what we call a Youth Advisory Board, which is a composition of two young people per country that are representing the young people in what we call the youth advisory structure, where we have all these young people from different walks of life, from the community, sign up and be part of the structure. And the Youth Advisory Board basically aids or provides oversight on the activities that we're implementing to ensure that they're youth-centered and that we're including the youth voice. So I gave an external perspective, but also internally I would like to recognize that we have youth structures. It's a youth project, so we need to have young people be involved in everything that we're doing. So yeah, it's pretty exciting. It's exciting to be a young person in 2026 because a couple years ago, young people were not given these opportunities to lead, to thrive, you know, and make decisions. And so, yeah, I just thought I'd add that.

Olivia [00:13:08]:

Amazing. Thank you.

Lauren [00:13:10]:

And I mean, who is more important than the person who the issue affects to include in these decisions?

Lynn [00:13:15]:

Absolutely, valid point Lauren.

Lauren [00:13:17]:

Are there any specific issues that you're focusing on right now?

Lynn [00:13:22]:

There are quite a number of things. First and foremost, I think one of our biggest things is to ensure that young people are able to access services that are youth-friendly. The area of focus for us is also to ensure that young people are well informed with regards to sexual and reproductive health. There are so many myths out there that pretty much propel decisions that should not be made. So we want to make sure that young people are acquiring the information that they need to make the right decisions when it comes to their sexuality. Also, as a project, we've been focusing on life skills and financial literacy. We have what we call Youth Savings and Loans Associations, which is a cluster of young people that are put together, they're given financial literacy information, they're trained, and they're taught how to save. And when their savings are growing, they're able to collectively come up with a youth economic activity where they can grow their money and be economically empowered.

Lynn [00:14:31]:

And then we, as a project, are also providing opportunities for young people to acquire skills so that they're economically empowered. Because a lot of these SRHR issues sometimes are propelled by the economic status of a person. For lack of a better example, we hear things on the news where young girls could be in a physically abusive relationship and they may have nowhere to go because they probably do not have the resources to stand up for themselves. And so the aspect of providing life skills for them to be able to be empowered enough to make the right decision is some of the areas that we're focusing on as a project to ensure that young people are well taken care of. Also, with regards to our advocacy work; advocacy is basically engaging policymakers to make the environment conducive. That's also one area of focus that we cannot stop placing our emphasis on with regards to the work that we do. We are consistently engaging and having young people be in those spaces.

Lynn [00:15:43]:

Also as a project, we have been focusing on training facility staff, the nurses and so on, who engage directly with young people to deal with these attitudes, for example, that clinic staff can possibly have. Sometimes you would have young people turned away because they're too young; they shouldn't be accessing those services. So we're helping to shift that by providing training, but of course, in support and with the endorsement of the ministries of health. So there are quite a lot of areas of focus that we have. But right now, this is pretty much the backbone of the work that we're doing that we'll continue to focus on until we hit the last day of implementation in 2029.

Lauren [00:16:27]:

Yeah, I'm sure you're reducing stigma surrounding those issues so substantially.

Lynn [00:16:33]:

Yes. And, you know, a lot of these sexual and reproductive health issues are really stigmatized. To see change, there has to be consistency, there has to be continuous drive, there has to be passion towards ensuring that these are issues that you continue to drill on in order to see that change. You know, we're dealing with human behaviors, human attitudes, and how we are accustomed to think. And so because we're dealing with human behavior, the issue is quite complex. You have to keep hitting the point home in order for you to see impact and change. So of course you will see a lot of immediate results, but a lot of the interventions that we're doing now are going to yield much better results for the young people of the next two, three, four, five, six, seven years from today.

Olivia [00:17:32]:

Amazing. I was reflecting back on what you shared about the Youth Savings and Loans Associations. It's so amazing to hear the connection and the ability to empower people who might not be able to leave certain situations like you mentioned. And it reminds me of a quote that I heard forever ago that always kind of stuck with me that “empowered women empower women.” So when women are getting access to these spaces or getting access to the SHE SOARS project, it's not just impacting one individual, they're taking it back into their communities and to their friends and their peers. And that's one thing I love about SRHR work, when I'm able to connect with youth or to chat with people who maybe have sexual health questions or preconceived ideas of things. And when I'm able to say, “Actually that's not entirely accurate,” then you can see them go, “Oh…”

Olivia [00:18:20]:

And then that's all of a sudden a conversation point for their friends or for other things as well. So knowledge is power, like you mentioned. Consistency is so fundamental. And when people are feeling empowered and are getting access to these types of knowledge and this education, they're taking it back with them and it's continuing to spread.

Lynn [00:18:37]:

Absolutely. They say you empower a girl, you empower a nation. So you're absolutely right. One person at a time.

Olivia [00:18:45]:

Amazing. So how does your role engage with the global community? Are there any global aspects that your role or that SHE SOARS is engaging with?

Lynn [00:18:56]:

Yes. So in the global spaces, we have been privileged to be in a number of advocacy spaces where we're engaging decision makers, the UN, and other likeminded institutions, engaging other youth structures to draw lessons and best practices in order for us to ensure that we’re in sync with the issues that are affecting young people. So that then everything we're doing is done from an informed perspective. But then mostly globally, we are in advocacy spaces where we really are placing our emphasis on. We were recently at an international conference on family planning where we were sharing the different models that the project is implementing at community level to just pretty much place the spotlight on the work that we're doing and also sharing knowledge so that other initiatives like us could learn from us. But then also in these global spaces, we have been ensuring that we also draw lessons from others and see how we can strengthen our voice. Because you know, the more the merrier when it comes to speaking to issues that are affecting young people. So if you have more voices, more players being a part of what we're aiming to propel, the better. And the regional level, of course, it's informed by the global level frameworks.

Lynn [00:20:22]:

We have been working on quite a few pieces. So the SADC region has what we call the SADC Parliamentary Forum. And this is basically the SADC Parliament. And the SADC Parliamentary Forum has been developing model laws that are supporting or helping propel progressive legislative environments for young people. One of them being the SADC model law on ending child marriage and protecting girls who are in marriage, children that are in marriage. So as a project we have been working with other likeminded partners to see how we can develop a framework to help track how these model laws are being domesticated at country level, how countries are ensuring that the recommendations that are placed in those model laws are embedded in what we're doing at national level so that the young people can be protected. Child marriage is a big issue that we're dealing with. In the three countries you have young girls being married off for so many reasons; poverty, you name it, some by choice, but there are so many reasons and of course so many voices have come together to see how best we can ensure that young people are not married off, but instead are able to go to school, are empowered with the knowledge and information and are able to thrive on their own.

Lynn [00:21:45]:

And usually I think it's been proven that when young people are educated, their decision-making is more informed by what they're learning from the structures that they're getting their education from. So the work like this that is happening in the region is work that we are showing in the global space; look, this is what is happening at regional level and in the global spaces. We're doing this because it's informed by this framework from the UN, it's informed by the Sustainable Development Goals that every UN member state has to ensure that they're able to achieve. So at a global level, we're supporting the governments we are working with in the three countries to ensure that they're able to register wins with the goals that these countries have signed and ratified at the global level. So it's a lot of complexities, but basically in the global space, it's mostly to ensure that we're propelling our advocacy and influencing work.

Olivia [00:22:49]:

Yeah, there's so much power in being able to share the work that you're doing and really connect with those other organizations to combat issues together. There's power in numbers for sure. So that's really amazing that the SHE SOARS project is able to connect with other organizations to stand kind of as a united front for issues as well.

Lauren [00:23:09]:

And I love the idea that you always have somebody else that you can learn from like you're never going to know everything. And that by collaborating with all of these groups, you're always learning something new to make things better.

Lynn [00:23:20]:

Absolutely. I mean, we recognize that, yes, we have the know-how, we have the experience, but the dynamics are changing, contexts are changing. And in order to ensure that we are effective and impactful, we cannot operate on our own in a silo. We recognize that we're a part of a network and being a part of the network is very beneficial because then there are times when you really don't know what to do with regards to issues that may arise that other partners could know. And the exciting thing about this project, the way it's structured, you know, it's being implemented through a consortium of partners. We have Restless Development, we have the Center for Reproductive Rights, we have the youth-led organizations, the women's rights organizations. We have CARE in the lead. So we are bringing all this rich technical experience, this knowledge and in-house innovations that every organization has, the skills and everything to ensure that we're able to address whatever challenges or whatever issues that we may face or that young people may be facing to ensure that we are impactful.

Lynn [00:24:35]:

We recognize that we're working in an ecosystem. And beyond just being with the partners that we're working with, you have to ensure that you spread your wings and learn because then it also enhances your sustainability agenda. We are very appreciative to Global Affairs Canada. I mean, this is an amazing project. The Canadian government has funded us to ensure that we are accelerating young people's rights. But then the project has a lifespan. So with regards to sustainability, we're in an ecosystem. Why don't we ensure that other partners who remain on the ground when SHE SOARS comes to an end can continue the work? Yeah, so there are all these dynamics and I just thought I'd add based off of your comment, Lauren.

Olivia [00:25:22]:

Yeah, it's an important consideration, especially with you mentioning consistency and changing some of these norms or changing stereotypes around SRHR. So it's a very good point.

Lauren [00:25:33]:

If you had a magic wand or the ability to let everybody in the world know something about SRHR, what would you want everybody to know? What are your last thoughts here?

Lynn [00:25:45]:

I would want everyone to know that when it comes to Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights of young people, it's a very complex topic or issue. The complexities are there because of perceptions, because of myths, because of stigma, because of taboo. I mean, we're talking about sexuality, and conversations around sexuality are not easy. But I would want people to understand that interventions like SHE SOARS are not just about doing things for girls or young people. It's about creating conditions for them to lead and thrive. And with regards to sexual and reproductive health, I want people to understand that if we do not talk to young people and provide the right information, others will talk to young people and give them all the wrong information. So these are conversations that we now need to begin to freely start having in our homes, in our schools.

Lynn [00:26:52]:

Because if open communication and information sharing is not effectively done, young people will hear things that are not true – there are a lot of myths – and will practice things that are not true that will harm young people, and they may make decisions that are not good for them. So with regards to SRHR, I think it's important that we be honest with ourselves. Young people are aware of issues around sexuality. You know, issues around sex are some of the really exciting things young people want to talk about with their peers. But then there's a lot of misinformation. So to prevent that, we need to be open, we need to be transparent. This work is about trust.

Lynn [00:27:43]:

When it comes to SRHR, you need to be able to ensure that you're trusting who you're engaging. It's about partnership. It's about believing in young people's power. And when girls and young people are supported and listened to and given space to lead, they don't just change their own lives, they also transform communities. So let's talk about it. It's difficult. Conversations need to be had. The right information needs to be shared.

Lynn [00:28:10]:

Young people, some are sexually active; we can't turn a blind eye to that. Let's allow them to access services so that they're protected from sexually transmitted diseases or sexually transmitted infections. Yeah. So we need to stop turning a blind eye and thinking, they're young, they don't do this. It's happening and we need to do something about it to make sure that young people are able to be protected and safe and exercise their rights. So yeah, it's a long wish of what I would do with that magic wand, but if I could get all those things done, that's what I would do.

Olivia [00:28:48]:

Amazing. Thank you so much. You just said so many things that I want to put on a shirt and wear forever. There are just so many not only impactful sentiments, but just so much truth to what you're saying as well. It's difficult to have these conversations, but it's difficult for youth to not have the access to information or to feel unprepared. So we have to choose our difficult. So thank you so much for sharing and I wish I had a magic wand to give you.

Lynn [00:29:13]:

Thank you, Olivia.

Lauren [00:29:15]:

The way you phrase things is so beautiful and I'm just so grateful we could have you on here today.

Lynn [00:29:20]:

To be honest, you've made this conversation so easy for me. It's exciting to speak to empowered ladies like you. I can guarantee you when I go into the communities, I would definitely talk about Olivia and Lauren, you know, in Zambia, somewhere in Uganda, somewhere in Kenya; they're going to hear about the amazing work that you're doing and I really applaud you for what you're doing, spreading the word out there and sharing the wins of SHE SOARS. It's a lot of work and kudos to you. Hats off to you. It's nice to see this. This rarely happens and now having young people actually ask the right questions, triggering questions that will help inform what we do going forward is great. So for me, it's been absolutely exciting to meet with you today and SHE SOARS is a project that I'm very passionate about and I'm very privileged to be given the opportunity to lead the team. So yeah, I just want to say thank you.

Olivia [00:30:16]:

Wow. Lynn, thank you so much for coming on the podcast today. I am leaving feeling inspired and even more empowered than before our conversation. So I want to change this podcast to the Lynn podcast now. This has been a really amazing conversation. So thank you so much for joining us today.

Lauren [00:30:33]:

If you ever want to come back for a second episode, just let us know.

Lynn [00:30:37]:

Just let me know. I'm going to be there! Thank you, Olivia. Thank you so much, Lauren. It was a pleasure.

Jacqueline [00:30:48]: Thanks for listening to SHE SOARS. If you like this episode, please share it on social media, connect with us in the comments, or give us a like.

Paniz [00:30:55]: Make sure to catch our next episode by subscribing to our channel and following us wherever you get your podcasts.

Jacqueline [00:31:02]: Follow @CARECanada on Instagram for updates on our show and the project.

Paniz [00:31:06]: SHE SOARS stands for Sexual and reproductive Health and Economic empowerment Supporting Out-of-school Adolescent girls’ Rights and Skills in Kenya, Uganda and Zambia.

Jacqueline [00:31:16]: The project is funded by Global Affairs Canada. Check out our global partner organizations: the Center for Reproductive Rights and Restless Development for even more project updates. 

Paniz [00:31:25]: Thanks again for listening. Until next time!