Issue advocacyissue advocacy programs include fellowships and initiatives that bridge challenges across key issue areas through innovative solutions grounded in collaborative partnerships. Through these programs, vital voices partners with leaders committed to strategic policy and collaborative advocacy aligned to leading global standards and benchmarks accepted and embraced across sectors, borders, and other lines that often divide foremost among them at present, the united nation's sustainable development goals (sdgs). Vv engage: vv engage is a fellowship that provides technical skills and leadership development to outstanding women political leaders making and influencing policy across the globe. With the support of freeport-mcmoran, vv engage aims to increase the capacity, decision-making power, and effectiveness of women leaders in political life, shifting culture around women's public leadership and moving towards equality in public representation globally. We also aim to work towards a more inclusive and equitable world by advancing the un sustainable development goals (sdgs) through policy. In 2021 vital voices worked with the third cohort of vv engage fellows. The fellowship was anchored on the same foundations of skill-building, mentoring networks and practical training as past cohorts. The third cohort of fellows included 37 fellows from 30 countries. Due to covid-19 the fellowship was entirely online and new curriculum was implemented in response to the all-virtual format, for example, fellows participated in an intensive 6-week digital storytelling workshop. We also continued with monthly community check-ins to serve the entire vv engage community, including alumni. These check-ins allowed the fellows to engage with new trainings and networking opportunities and to continue to build the vv engage community. Voices against violence (vav) peace: the intergenerational fellowship on women, peace and security in south central Europe, or peace fellowship, made possible by voices against violence: the gender-based violence global initiative (vav), is a year-long program that supports emerging and established women leaders working to address gender-based violence (gbv) in the countries of bosnia and herzegovina, croatia, kosovo and serbia. Through this fellowship, we aim to increase the capacity, collaboration, decision-making power and effectiveness of women leaders working on gbv across generations and sectors, and equipping them with the tools they need to advance women's rights through the women, peace, and security (wps) agenda. In 2021, a cohort of 16 peace fellows was selected, and fellows were onboarded and began a series of virtual trainings alongside peer-to-peer networking and in-country networking. Voices against violence (vav) fellowship: the vav fellowship is an innovative, cross-regional, one-year program engaging twenty fellows from ten civil-society organizations. The vav fellowship, offered in english and spanish, aims to advance the capacity and global network of the selected community-based organizations combatting gender-based violence. The vav fellowship includes tailored trainings and promote peer-to-peer learning and exchanges among participants. Throughout the pilot year of the vav fellowship in 2021, fellows engaged in bi-weekly virtual gatherings, focused on gaining knowledge of innovative strategies to address systemic and institutional gaps in their region or country, as well as leadership development experience, grant-management skills, fundraising techniques, the capacity to establish and implement clear policies and procedures within their organization, and best practices for mitigating secondary trauma and supporting self-care efforts. The fellows developed proposals for subawards they will carry out after the final online engagements and gatherings in 2022. The 2021-2022 cohort met for the entirety of 2021 due to the covid-19 situation and consequent travel restrictions.Global freedom exchange: capitalizing on the leadership and expertise of international leaders in the vital voices network, the global freedom exchange (gfe), a hilton and vital voices partnership, leverages leadership to end sex and labor trafficking. Over the lifespan of the program, gfe has developed an international network of activists working in the fields of advocacy, service provision, law enforcement, criminal justice, and public health from every region of the world. In 2021, in response to ongoing challenges of the covid-19 pandemic, vital voices built upon and strengthen the customized, virtual fellow support and grant offerings that initially emerged as creative, supportive solutions for programming in 2020 when the pandemic had downstream effects on violence and exploitation, as well as compounded obstacles to fellows' ability to address them. Virtual trainings addressed a myriad of capacity and skills-building topics, including legal considerations for NGO leaders, mentorship, mental health, meditation, and grant writing. Vital voices also continued to support the essential efforts of gfe fellows through grant funding opportunities, through the continuation and expansion of gfe project grants as well as the launch of the inaugural gfe emergency fund grants.Environmental justice curriculum: in 2021 vital voices partnered with the women's earth alliance to create a climate and gender action toolkit to provide leaders in all sectors the necessary tools, support, and networks to integrate climate and gender justice into their leadership practice. This toolkit offers leaders the opportunity to expand their knowledge around the climate emergency and women's unique position in the crisis, learn about proven climate justice strategies and mainstream climate and gender best practices, design a climate and gender action plan for their organizations and communities and build a network of support for their climate justice efforts.Combatting gender-based violence (gbv) trainings: in 2021, leveraging avon relationships and support in combination with a grant from eurasia foundation, vital voices collaborated with local russian partners and the avon foundation for women in russia to organize, develop, and deliver four trainings at the intersection of youth and gbv for over 500 avon representatives across russia between March and June 2021. These trainings covered topics including, but not limited to: diverse forms and impact of violence (especially domestic violence), stereotypes of gender and masculinity, and youth-specific dynamics and considerations related to gbv. Participants engaged actively with the material presented, asking questions and responding positively to the calls for action from presenters. At the conclusion of these trainings, numerous participants indicated an interest in applying the lessons of the trainings to helping women in their communities.

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