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Centre for Justice, Equity, and Sustainable Action (JESA)

Spotlights

Leave no one behind

2022 - Leave no one behind: Empowering persons with albinism

The University of the Fraser Valley &​ Albinism Royal Foundation are working on a solution to empower women and girls with albinism, as well as women with children with albinism in Sierra Leone. These women and girls, who experience marginalization and stigmatization, are being empowered to be leaders, role models, and advocates for the rights of persons with albinism and gender equality. The project focuses on building women’s and girls’ skills in advocacy and...

Alicia Dyck

2022 - Alicia Dyck - Research Assistant

“If I met me in my first year, I wouldn’t even recognize me!”

Alicia Dyck knows that she has come a long way since her first semester at UFV. She recalls being a shy, quiet student who lacked a sense of belonging but in her third year, it all changed. “I used to feel like I was at UFV for no reason but then I found my real community and it was an instant click,” Alicia says.

Stefania Pizzirani - AAA Award

2021 - Stefania Pizzirani - AAA Award Recipient

Stefania's teaching excellence has been undeniable. Stefania has made distinct contributions to their areas of expertise and has been influential. 

Marginalization and exclusion

2021 - Putting a Lens on Marginalization and Exclusion and Advocating for Youth Engagement in Global

My experiences as a member of the Punjabi community in British Columbia first led me to think about gender and racial inequalities and the need to challenge prejudice and discrimination.  Frequent travels to visit extended family in India also opened my eyes to the existence of suffering and inequity on a global scale. When I learned that there was such a thing as ‘studying international development’, I did not hesitate to choose this as my area of study for my Bachelors, Masters, and Doctorate degrees.

Global humanitarian interests

2020 - Thinking about global humanitarian interests

The COVID-19 pandemic, along with recent climate-related natural disasters, violent conflicts, and the resurgence of the #BlackLivesMatter movement, have exposed the complexities of systemic socio-economic inequities in the global north and global south counties, and power disparities in the international system and their ramifications for global humanitarianism.

A call to action

2020 - A call to action – have you heard this before?

Biological and philosophical beliefs are the first things under attack when racism raises its ugly head and strikes. Some things we are born with, some things we learn and attain, some things we can unlearn and change, some things we cannot (and don’t want to) change – like the colour of our skin. 

UFV nursing faculty travel to West Africa to provide health care education

2018 - UFV nursing faculty travel to West Africa to provide health care education

Catherine Smith (Liao), a UFV nursing faculty member, and Vice-Chair and director of ReSurge Africa, helped to rebuild the health-care system through a two-year volunteer stint in Sierra Leone. Already scarce, healthcare prospects for a city made up of over 112, 000 people became largely unavailable. The war left infrastructure destroyed and a vast majority of Sierra Leoneans displaced.

UFV students do summer work in Africa with UN affiliates

2012 - UFV students do summer work in Africa with UN affiliates

An initiative aimed at educating women, and engaging in community planning with a primary school in rural Tanzania involved working with the Girls in ICT Portal, a UN affiliate designed to help girls prepare for careers in information and communication technology. Through this program, the UFV students hosted a seminar aimed at teaching young women how to work with technological tools used for urban development.

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