Ipas’s 2026 report Future-Proofing: The Professionalization of an Anti-Rights Youth Generation examines the recruitment, funding, coordination, and mobilization of young people within anti-rights movements.
The report includes 10 key recommendations for countering the rising anti-rights youth movement—created in collaboration with a human rights-focused youth advisory panel.
These calls to action are for young people, advocates and professionals in the sexual and reproductive health and rights movement, and also for the partners and funders invested in seeing the next generation fully equipped to fight back and help secure human rights for all.
Here’s a quick overview of the recommendations. (You can read the full report and recommendations here.)
Future-Proofing: The Professionalization of an Anti-Rights Youth Generation
1.
Strengthen youth engagement and movement building
- Invest in youth-led and youth-centered programs that promote inclusive values, critical media literacy and civic engagement to provide alternative leadership pathways.
- Support leadership programs that build young people’s skills and networks outside ideologically extreme pipelines, alongside peer-to-peer mentoring, fair compensation, burnout prevention, mental health support and sustainable funding for youth advocates.
2.
Monitor legal advocacy networks
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Track anti-rights legal clinics and litigation efforts—especially those targeting reproductive and LGBTQI+ rights, climate change and gender equality—to anticipate and respond to policy shifts.
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Invest in progressive legal training to support legal champions, including through bar associations, fellowships and rapid alert systems.
3.
Promote alternative narratives and cultural spaces
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Invest in culture, arts, storytelling and digital media projects that help youth to reclaim their histories, identities and futures.
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Support content creators and platforms that challenge extremist ideologies and create space for youth-driven leadership.
4.
Enhance digital counter-messaging
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Develop strategic communication campaigns to counter misinformation and disinformation and reframe public debates on sexual and reproductive health and rights, particularly online.
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Equip youth advocates with the tools, training and secure digital infrastructure needed to reach diverse audiences in multiple languages.
5.
Foster interfaith and ecumenical dialogue
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Build alliances with moderate and progressive religious groups to challenge extremist narratives.
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Support interfaith and intergenerational dialogue that advances pluralism and human rights.
6.
Support international and regional democratic norms and coordinate policy responses
- Engage international and regional institutions more effectively to prevent anti-rights actors from shaping human rights agendas.
- Strengthen cross-border coordination, youth participation and accountability in global policy spaces.
7.
Invest in education and critical thinking
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Support public education, critical thinking and inclusive curricula that strengthen democratic resilience.
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Prioritize training in areas where rights-based knowledge is under threat, including sexual and reproductive health care.
8.
Ensure public support is not diverted to youth anti-rights groups
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Prevent public funding from subsidizing organizations that promote exclusionary or authoritarian agendas.
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Increase transparency around anti-rights funding pipelines and strengthen watchdog efforts.
9.
Hold the line and stay vigilant
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Monitor where funding cuts and policy shifts are creating openings for anti-rights movements.
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Build systems that identify threats early and support rapid, coordinated responses across sectors and borders.
10.
Protect youth activists from backlash and repression
- Provide holistic protection for youth activists facing harassment, surveillance and criminalization.
- This includes digital security, legal support, psychosocial care and safeguards against retaliation.
Why these recommendations matter now
A Q&A with Jamie Vernaelde, Ipas senior researcher
The lead author of Ipas’s report “Future Proofing: The Professionalization of an Anti-Rights Youth Generation” explains why this trend matters now—and what sexual and reproductive health and rights movements must do to counter it.
“The future of bodily autonomy and gender justice depends on how we engage the next generation and support them to lead.”