By Rebecca Ekpe
The 2023 Women Deliver Conference has ended in Kigali, Rwanda with concrete calls to support women and girls without discrimination.
More than 6300 Feminists, 100 Journalists and Content Creators, 600 Scholar Recipients, and 87 Sponsors representing 170 Countries convened on Kigali to advance gender equality and protect sexual and reproductive health and rights for girls and women, in all their diversity.
“When women and girls are supported with funding and the right resources, they have the potential to challenge harmful norms, push for institutional and legislative reforms, and transform their communities,” explained Dr. Maliha Khan, President and CEO of Women Deliver.
She said “over the last five days, we have had meaningful discourse on what we need to do for women and girls globally. We must now act to secure their bodily autonomy and sexual and reproductive health and rights.”
Furthermore, Women Deliver 2023 was a reminder to celebrate women’s achievements.
“WD2023 has reminded us not only of the barriers, but also the achievements that have been made. I hope everyone walks away from the conference carrying this sense of achievement and hope based on the commitments that have been made.”Dr. Khan reiterated.
Among the outcomes at the Conference were;
A new Women Deliver Emerging Leaders Program that will put more trust-based funding into the hands of young people and also ensure that they have the knowledge, resources, supportive ecosystem and leadership opportunities to achieve their gender equality and sexual health and reproductive advocacy goals.
A campaign launched by over 40 organizations to close the gender nutrition gap, alongside a co-created Action Agenda that calls for transformative actions from governments to improve women’s and girls’ nutrition.
The RESPECT Women website, an online platform that aims to drive concrete actions to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls, launched by The World Health Organization (WHO), together with UN Women, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and the United Nations Development Programme.
