Center for Health and Gender Equity Inc. (CHANGE)

Originally named the Health and Development Policy Project it became a non-profit organization in 2001 and changed its name to CHANGE. ^{2 3} CHANGE merged with two other organizations into Fos Feminista in 2021. ⁴

CHANGE developed Reverse Co-dels, a program that brought delegations from developing countries to Washington, D.C. to advocate for more funding for SRHR. It joined with the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights in a lawsuit that challenged the Trump administration’s creation of the Commission on Unalienable Rights, which was cancelled following President Joe Biden’s inauguration in 2021. ^{5 6}

History

Center for Health and Gender Equity Inc. was founded in 1994 as the Health and Development Policy Project in response to the International Conference on Population and Development coordinated by the United Nations. CHANGE set out to hold the United States accountable for commitments concerning sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). ² CHANGE affirms a “right to access quality health care services” that includes contraception and abortion. ¹

CHANGE renamed itself the Center for Health And Gender Equity in 2001when it obtained NGO status and began forming partnerships with HIV/AIDS groups, faith-based organizations, and left-of-center “reproductive justice” advocates. ³

Advocacy

Center For Health And Gender Equity advocated for increased funding for sexual and reproductive health and rights programs overseas for contraception and HIV among adolescent girls and young women, official recognition and adoption of SRHR by the United States government, evidence-based decisions to remove funding restrictions, and training for local and regional leaders. ³

CHANGE developed an advocacy tool, Reverse Co-dels, that brought advocates, experts, and service providers from the “global south” to Washington, D.C. to educate Congress of the importance of SRHR. ⁵

Funded by a 2020 grant from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, CHANGE committed to pursue racial equity in communities impacted by U.S. policies, began promoting anti-colonial and anti-racist practices and mindsets, agreed to hold itself accountable to decolonizing its work, and committed to diversity, equity and inclusion. ⁷

CHANGE published “Climate Change is a Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Issue” in April of 2021.The document calls for environmental justice defining the term as “a global social movement in response to the environmental racism experienced by Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities in the United States.” ⁸

Controversy

Center For Health And Gender Equity partnered with Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, Council for Global Equality, Center for Global Justice, and Democracy Forward (DF) to sue the Trump Administration for creating a State Department Commission on Unalienable Rights on the grounds that it would redefine human rights and undercut protections for women, LGBTQ+ individuals and other marginalized communities around the world. With the election defeat of President Donald Trump, the Biden administration voluntarily terminated the commission. The RFK Center filed a response that stated that damage had been done and must be addressed. ⁶

Funding

CHANGE identified institutional donors that have included George Soros’s Open Society Foundations, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Sunflower Foundation, the Wallace Global Fund, the Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Foundation, the Moriah Fund, and World Bank Group Community Connections Campaign among others. ⁹

People

Serra Sippel was president of CHANGE and co-founder and chief global advocacy officer for Fos Feminista.  Deborah Arrindell was chair of the board and sat on the boards of left-of-center Advocates for Youth (AFY) and the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association (NFRHA). ^{10 11}

Successor Organization

CHANGE, International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC), and International Planned Parenthood Federation Western Hemisphere Region (IPPFWHR) merged in 2021 to form a new feminist organization that their announcement stated was needed to “dismantle neo-colonialism and racism and ensure that all women, girls and gender diverse people have their rights maintained, protected, and expanded.” The group took the name of  Fos Feminista and works with 135 organizations in over 35 countries. ^{4 12}