Planned Parenthood Regina wins award for Indigenous outreach program

Planned Parenthood Regina was recently recognized for its work increasing Indigenous leadership at the organization and reaching out to Indigenous populations.

TheManachiwasin program, which means "respect self," focused on delivering culturally appropriate sexual health information to six Regina community schools with high Indigenous populations.

"We reached out to Indigenous children in Grade 7 and 8 to increase early interventions, targeting children before they become sexually active so that they will know the facts aboutSTBBIs [sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections], understand the risks, and be stronger young men and women empowered to avoid health risks," said Chris Smith, executive director of Planned Parenthood, in a press release.

As part of the program, Planned Parenthood also hired three Indigenous staff members to provide leadership and to focus the program activities.

The program has so far reached 830 youthand 10 community agencies.

As a result, the organization will took homethe Helen and Fred Bentley Award of Excellence, co-ordinated by Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights. It comes with a monetary prize to support ongoing efforts in the field.