Announcing the 2025 Global Outreach Grant Recipients
The Global Outreach Committee is pleased to announce five outstanding projects as recipients of this year’s $10,000 Global Outreach Grant. Chosen from a competitive pool of applications, these initiatives stood out for their potential to make a meaningful impact on sexual health education and care in underserved communities around the world.
The awarded projects are:
1. Improving Sexual Health in Ethiopia by Yehenaw Tadele Tenaw
This initiative addresses high STI rates, sexual abuse, and limited public awareness by offering free hybrid training to healthcare providers, social workers, and community leaders. It combines online courses, in-person workshops, assessments, and public campaigns to promote informed sexual health practices.
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"Receiving the ISSM Global Outreach Grant is a tremendous honor and a vital opportunity for me and the communities I serve in Ethiopia. |
2. Promoting Continuing Education in Sexual Medicine in Latin America by Facio Fernando
Targeting countries with limited resources, this project enhances the technical and practical knowledge of healthcare professionals. It also provides accessible educational content for the general public, especially adolescents, through expert-produced audiovisual materials.
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"Working on this project with SLAMS/ ISSM (Global Outreach Grants)to promote sexual education in Latin America will be a powerful and deeply meaningful experience. |
3. Arabic Podcast on Women’s Reproductive Health in Lebanon by Sandrine Atallah & Gaël Abou Ghannam
This podcast tackles taboo subjects - from menstruation to menopause - offering culturally sensitive, expert-informed content in an accessible format. Aimed at women and healthcare providers, the series seeks to break silence, dispel myths, and empower listeners across the Arab world.
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"This project means a great deal to us. As Arab women physicians, we are committed to breaking the silence surrounding topics like menstruation, fertility, postpartum sexuality, menopause, and vaginismus—topics too often left unspoken. With this podcast, we aim to offer accessible, culturally sensitive, and evidence-based information to thousands of Arabic-speaking women and the healthcare providers who serve them. This grant gives us the momentum and credibility to expand our impact and help normalize these crucial conversations." |
4. ISSM-SMSNA Africa Initiative by Daniela Wittmann
A joint program that delivers comprehensive sexual medicine and health training for oncology providers in Africa. Building on five years of successful in-person and virtual education in Kenya and Sub-Saharan Africa, the initiative continues to expand its reach and impact.
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Sexual health is a topic that is rarely discussed as an aspect of cancer care globally. In response to an enthusiastic invitation by a Nairobi cancer center to bring education on sexual health in 2019, our team has continued to provide increasingly in-depth education, including clinical examples discussion with attendees. Our webinars have not only had solid attendance from Sub-Saharan Africa, but the program has also had participants from other parts of Africa and other continents. Participants tell us about their plans to incorporate sexual health assessment in their oncology practice which meets our goal and the goal of ISSM to have a positive impact on the quality of life of cancer patients in Africa. |
5. Vietnam Transgender Health Project by Bac Nguyen
This project equips Vietnamese healthcare providers with essential knowledge in transgender medicine through online courses, workshops, and educational tools. It aims to improve quality of care and address persistent discrimination in healthcare settings.
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"We are deeply honored and grateful to receive the ISSM Global Outreach Grant to support our project aimed at improving transgender care in Vietnam. This opportunity represents not only personal recognition for us at the Department of Andrology and Sexual Medicine, but also an important milestone for the medical and transgender communities in our country. This project carries deep personal and professional meaning. It reflects our commitment to inclusivity, patient-centered care, and the ethical responsibility to ensure that every individual, regardless of their gender identity, can access safe and appropriate healthcare services. We are confident that this initiative will have a meaningful and lasting impact on the transgender community in Vietnam, offering them the dignity, respect, and medical care they deserve." |
We look forward to following the progress of these inspiring projects over the coming year and sharing their outcomes as they contribute to advancing global sexual health.
