On February 6, 2025, Cooperation Canada celebrated the 2024 Cooperation Canada Awards ceremony recognizing excellence and merit in the field of international cooperation by awarding prizes to individuals or organizations that have distinguished themselves in the past year.
Cooperation Canada was proud to present the 2024 Karen Takacs Award, to Katrina Leclerc in recognition of her outstanding contributions to advancing women’s rights globally. A dedicated advocate, Katrina has been instrumental in shaping Canada’s Office of Women, Peace, and Security (WPS), amplifying youth voices, and supporting national action plans worldwide. Her leadership in feminist and inclusive peacebuilding reflects the award’s spirit, celebrating those who create meaningful change for women everywhere.
At 21, Katrina began her work in gender equality and youth rights as a lead advisor to a Canadian Senator, playing a key role in establishing Canada’s WPS Ambassador role and advocating for Indigenous women’s rights in Canadian law. She later transitioned to the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP) as Program Director, overseeing programs across 30+ countries and advocating for synergies between WPS and Youth, Peace and Security (YPS). She contributed to the development of National Action Plans (NAP), including Chad’s WPS NAP and DRC’s YPS NAP. As Chair of the Women, Peace and Security Network – Canada (WPSN-C) and co-founder of the Canadian Coalition for Youth, Peace & Security (CCYPS), Katrina led advocacy to integrate YPS into Canada’s WPS commitments, ensuring the 3rd National Action Plan became Canada’s most youth-sensitive WPS policy. A PhD Candidate in Conflict Studies, she focuses on the intersections of WPS and YPS with local peacebuilding.
Congratulations, Katrina, on this well-deserved recognition! Read more about the other winners of this year’s Cooperation Canada Awards.