This text is part of the special Women’s Leadership booklet
Newly arrived in office, Béatrice Vaugrante wishes to transform society with a feminist approach during her mandate. Portrait of the new Executive Director of Oxfam-Québec, an organization celebrating its 50e anniversary of existence this year.
Before joining the organization that fights poverty, Ms.me Vaugrante led Amnesty International for French Canada for over a decade. “I’m still in exploration mode!” summarizes with a burst of laughter the one who started her new duties in February.
Since her arrival at Oxfam-Québec, Ms.me Vaugrante was able to observe that the NGO was “already quite advanced on the issues and challenges” of gender equality. The organization is working in particular on the development of a feminist policy, adds the executive director. “It’s to make sure we have an organization that transforms the economic agenda and responds to the climate crisis and humanitarian issues from a female power perspective. And I see it a lot in current projects,” she says.
Oxfam-Québec has two ongoing initiatives dealing with women’s rights. The first, Women’s Voice and Leadership, aims to promote women’s voices in the public space and is in its fourth year out of a total of five.
A second project, Being able to choose, will run until 2028. It was set up with the aim of providing women with more freedom in terms of health and sexual and reproductive rights. “It will be on access to services to be able, among other things, to give birth without dying, huh? It would be good ! » illustrious Mme Vaugrante.
The new executive director also hopes to increase Oxfam-Québec’s local roots, especially for the organization’s 50th anniversary. “What we do locally can permeate what we do in our external projects. We will have to improve it by saying: “Here is what we can do internationally. Here is how it can help Quebec. And here’s how what’s being done here can also help elsewhere.” “, she says.
A unifying approach
Although she does not yet have a precise idea of all the challenges she will want to take up in her mandate at Oxfam-Québec, Ms.me Vaugrante hopes to support women’s rights organizations. “I know a lot of them and I know what they face. I know how we can support them without them being attacked every time [par des messages haineux] “, she explains.
Female power includes the participation of all, underlines the director general of Oxfam-Québec. “Men can have this feminist leadership. Moreover, we strongly encourage them,” says M.me Vaugrante. She believes in the importance of “working together” with all stakeholders in society. “We must collaborate with other NGOs, companies, governments, universities, artists,” she lists.
For meme Vaugrante, the years to come are crucial in many struggles. “This decade, it comes or goes, whether with climate crises or democracy,” she says.
By his own admission, the world of human rights and that of international development are “parallel, without being similar”. However, she believes that her previous experience can be an asset. “Oxfam-Québec is an organization that works a lot on concrete solutions,” says the one that works to find links between women’s rights and changing the economy and proposing solutions to the climate crisis. “And this, through female power, feminist power. »
For the new director general of Oxfam-Québec, feminism represents an opportunity to question the sharing of power. “It is to ensure that each time we do something, there is a gender analysis, believes Mme Vaugrante. Does the decision harm women or recognize women’s free labor? asks the one who favors an intersectional approach.
Mme Vaugrante also claims that this way of doing things has enabled Amnesty International to adopt an anti-racism plan for 87% of the organization’s 70 national entities. “This feminist approach to leadership makes us question our ways of working, even in organizations that are for human rights and women’s rights. Each time, you have to wonder about the division of powers, she insists. When you have a feminist and open approach, it makes things easier. I hope we can all work at the same table. »
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This special content was produced by the Special Publications team of the Duty, pertaining to marketing. The drafting of Duty did not take part.