Mirus Ponon, a participant in the SRHR Forum says he hopes to have contributed to the issues that the activity is aiming to address. Mirus is the Founder of the ASEAN Youth Advocates Network, a youth-led non-profit organization that breaks down opportunity barriers for the youth and other disadvantaged sectors using development initiatives at the core of inclusion, innovation, and empowerment. He is one of the 52 individuals who attended the forum on Mainstreaming SRHR in Disaster Setting: Learning from the SRHR Champions held at the UP Hotel on November 09, 2022.

For Mirus, it was inspiring to sit with several individuals from various civil society organizations and aspiring SRHR advocates driving change in the country. He said he is grateful for the opportunity to hear their stories on how they fill in gaps in SRHR and humanitarian work. While this felt intimidating for him at first, it only enhanced his first SRHR forum experience and gave him the opportunity to have meaningful conversations with individuals who are actively engaged in the work, which is not away from the path he is taking. The young man shared how each presentation from OXFAM Pilipinas, Family Planning Organization of the Philippines, and Lingap Gabriela was eye-opening for everyone in the forum. He said that the matter of the deteriorating SRHR in the country is seldom discussed, if ever. Apparently, for young people like them, it is not a trend.

“With so many issues in today’s society, why is this matter of SRHR not popular with the youth? Why hasn’t it been spread? Why isn’t it popular and why isn’t it “sexy” on the part of the youth and a Filipino in this advocacy? We, young people, are faced with various sexual reproductive health issues but our needs and the context in which we live are often overlooked.”

Mirus admitted that at first, he was hesitant to attend the forum because he did not know much about SRHR. But he was intrigued as to how the matter of sexual and reproductive health and disaster risk reduction and management are connected and why it is important to integrate the two.

Since its establishment, the ASEAN Youth is one of the organizations which have been extending help to those affected by disasters. They are witnesses to the hardships and pain that our worst hit countrymen suffer every time there is a disaster. In the forum, Mirus realized that those affected by disasters go through twice as much, especially women and girls. In the usual way of providing relief, more emphasis is placed on the distribution of food, water, and so on. It is unfortunate that another equally important issue always takes a back seat: this is securing women’s and girls’ SRH, especially during emergencies.

“I thought: what can we do? We are not experts in that field — we just respond whenever there is a disaster. But through this forum I realized that we can do something: carry out this advocacy and promote and strengthen the call for access to SRHR in the country. SRHR is an immediate concern that needs immediate attention for the most urgent plans, steps, and actions. What was learned today is really eye-opening, especially to the youth,” Mirus concluded.