Downtown Eastside Women's Centre Association

Published purpose

This 29-month project will support a feminist response and recovery to address the current impacts of COVID-19, through systemic change. Downtown Eastside Women's Centre Association will achieve this by scaling up the Indigenous Women’s Program (IWP) group to increase levels of democratic participation among marginalized women, creating strategic partnerships and reciprocal relationships between policy makers and women in the Downtown Eastside (DTES), and engaging policymakers to implement the 35 Key Recommendations of the Red Women Rising Report. At the end of the project, the organization will have contributed to addressing systemic barriers by advancing inclusive policies and practices, encouraging more equitable and effective sharing of resources, addressing persistent harmful gender norms and attitudes, supporting positive distribution of authority, voices, and decision-making power, and increasing networks and collaboration to accelerate systemic change. The project will result in mentor-mentee relationships between a cohort of 10 policymakers and 10 women in the DTES to effectively plan for policy reform. The IWP group will participate in civic engagement to share knowledge with policymakers on the realities faced by women in the DTES.