The Government of Rwanda welcomes you to the opening of the Women Deliver 2023 Conference. Join us for the official kick-off of WD2023!

When the United States’ Supreme Court ended the federal right to abortion in 2022, the US became only the third country in this century to counter the global trend of expanding access to legal abortion. How might the fall of Roe v Wade – and related conservative forces -- affect the global trend? How can we avert or mitigate the negative reverberations of Dobbs? Can SRHR champions leverage this setback to strengthen and mobilize advocacy for SRHR across the globe? These important questions will be considered from different perspectives and for different geographies and populations.

Organized by Guttmacher Institute 

An unanticipated impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was its traumatic effect on frontline healthcare workers, particularly across low- and middle-income countries, where resources for mental health are scarce and interventions limited. Post pandemic, there were increased efforts to address this mental health crisis. This session will share first-hand examples from different initiatives seeking to offset global mental healthcare disparities in multiple countries across the Global South. Come and learn how these interventions supported healthcare workers psychosocially and spiritually, created spaces of healing and inclusion, and in so doing empowered women and helped build community among the healthcare workforce.

Organized by Catholic Medical Mission Board (CMMB)

The session will create space for women to safely discuss the realities of climate change on their well-being. It will also help empower the feminist movement on how to engage at the family, community and health worker level as advocates. It will support how to mitigate and increase resilience. It will also help to better understand how to reframe the family roles from male-driven to joint decision making within family, community and system.

Organized by Abt Associates Inc

The session will be structured as a round-table dialogue between leaders from the Pacific disability rights movement on how they have pioneered and developed inclusive sexual and reproductive health services and related advocacy. Speakers will share the challenges and successes they have had in advocating for and developing inclusive sexual and reproductive health programming for everyone, including people with disabilities in their communities. Following the dialogue, attendees will be encouraged to share their good practices and discuss how sexual and reproductive health programming can be more inclusive, including for people with disabilities.

Organized by Women Enabled International (WEI)| Pacific Disability Forum (PDF) | Disability Rights Fund (DRF)

Thematic area: Gender Equality in the era of Multiple Crises

From climate change to armed conflict, food security, the pandemic, global debt, and a dooming recession to name a few, the last few years have placed us in the nexus of various compounding global crises. But what does that mean for the state of gender equality? We know crises exacerbates and reinforces gender inequalities. This includes girls and women, particularly those facing multiple inequalities. During moments of crisis, marginalized groups are disproportionately impacted, burdens deepen, support systems collapse, and progress previously made towards gender equality and human rights can regress. Yet young people and women have also mobilized to protect their communities as leaders, peace makers, health workers, climate champions, social workers, and more. With an emphasis on passing the mic to women on the frontlines, leaders from civil society, the UN, government, and activists will apply a feminist lens and discuss the intersectional impacts to some of the global crises around the world and their response. Using research and data, it will seek to identify setbacks on progress and inequities exacerbated by the crisis. It will also explore ways in which girls, women, and youth have led and contributed to the various responses to crises, why their engagement is critical, and the barriers faced when trying to meaningfully and systematically include them in response policies and programs. Finally, this plenary will host a thought provoking discussion on macro-solutions for safeguarding gender equality in the face of crises, ceding space to decolonial and feminist leaders to examine opportunities and solutions to build back in a more just, equitable, and inclusive way.

Organized by Wedu & U.S Mission to ASEAN 

This learning session aims for collective reflection and knowledge sharing between session organizers and participants. By showcasing some of the identified shortcomings of justice limited to criminalisation approaches, in addition to legislative wins that have impacted communities positively. This session is designed to create space for women, girls, and gender diverse people to share knowledge and learning on the failure of criminalizing approaches to gender, sexual and reproductive rights, aiming to uproot sexual and reproductive rights violations. The session organizers will frame the session with guiding questions to facilitate discussion. Besides providing the framing, the discussions will be driven by participants’ experiences.

Organized by Hidden Pockets Collective | RESURJ | Partners in Law & Development | Eva Nigeria 

This engaging discussion will explore the transformative power of education to contribute to gender equality. Partners will highlight concrete approaches to supporting girls' education and removing barriers. From the establishment of centers of excellence where ordinary schools are transformed into gender responsive schools, to the establishment of a community-based approach to support access to education, retention and success for girls in Guinea, to the implementation of advocacy activities to address gender inequalities in Rwandan schools, these initiatives are contributing to achieving gender equality through and for education. The presentations will highlight the power and necessity of partnership between stakeholders.

Organized by Programme CLÉ (Fondation Paul Gérin Lajoie, Fédération des cégeps et Education internationale) | FAWE Rwanda | School-to-School Guinée | Rwanda Education for all Coalition

Hear from young leaders in this session, including young women with disabilities, indigenous young people, and young men champions about how they are working together across human rights movements. Our speakers share inspiring stories demonstrating how youth leadership, gender equality and disability justice intersect with pressing issues such a family planning and sexual and reproductive health, capacity development and economic empowerment, and how alliances and intersectional approaches are key to achieving real change. We will identify barriers and solutions to building more inclusive movements that centre the lived experiences of marginalised young people and make sure all voices are heard.

Organized by ADD International | Strong Enough Girls' Empowerment Initiative (SEGEI) | UN Women.

Thematic area: Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights

The crises of the last few years have fundamentally altered the global health landscape. We are in the midst of an alarming reality in which the right to choose, bodily autonomy, and reproductive justice are continuously under attack. We have witnessed unprecedented push back against sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in the United States, Poland, El Salvador, Hungary, and others, but we have also seen momentous progress in countries like Argentina, Mexico, and Colombia. At the core of these setbacks and of these victories, lies the rights of girls, women, and gender diverse people to make autonomous decisions about their own body and reproductive functions, a cornerstone of gender equality. Join us for this important conversation with advocates, practitioners, funders, and duty bearers who will share their knowledge and experiences, providing insights into the significance of the right to bodily autonomy for SRHR, discussing its impact on personal agency, equality, and well-being as well as ways to ensure these rights endure. After which we will delve into the far-reaching consequences of abortion restrictions on a global scale. Drawing from frontline work, research evidence, and lived experiences, panelists will discuss the implications of abortion restrictions on the public health landscape, gender equality, and climate. This panel aims to shed light on the wide-ranging effects of such restrictions, transcending borders and impacting people's lives in profound ways, particularly among vulnerable populations. Together, we will build a roadmap towards sustained progress, towards a world where everyone can decide on their life, body, and future.

Even today, inadequate access to financial services and literacy remains a major challenge preventing women and girls from fully enjoying their economic and social rights. How can we overcome this fundamental obstacle to women and girls’ empowerment? This session will create a dynamic space, bringing together actors from the inclusive finance sector to share concrete experiences, stimulate constructive reflection and identify inspiring and sustainable solutions tailored to the needs of women and girls.

Organized by Développement International Desjardins (DID)

In labour-intensive industries, women tend to occupy entry-level, lower-paying jobs and rarely move up the ladder. This session addresses gender inequity in the blue-collar workforce and invites diverse stakeholders to collaborate and create actionable solutions. Speakers will present cross-cutting views from across the value chain, including insights from lived experience, research, on-ground implementation, and policy perspectives. Delve into geographically-adaptable strategies and programs that have driven womens’ career advancement. Join us as we examine scalable growth paths that cater to the critical personal and professional needs of women and promote gender equality at work.

Organized by Good Business Lab | Shahi Exports Pvt. Ltd. | United Nations Foundation

The MENA region has one of the highest populations of young people in the world. Every day, young people must navigate challenges to access basic needs and services, including SRHR. Harmful social norms, policies, and legislation often limit their ability to claim their SRHR. Additionally, shrinking civic space makes it increasingly difficult for young people to advocate for their rights. In such a difficult context, how do young people and CSOs work on SRHR? In our session, young people will present the innovative ways they find and share SRHR information and advocate for SRHR. They will give examples of how they use peer learning, youth participatory research, safe online spaces, and arts and culture for SRHR advocacy. They will demonstrate how they use these tactics to navigate difficult contexts and build a movement. Panelists will share replicable and effective approaches, tools, and methods used across MENA in an interactive Virtual Platform panel session.

Organized by Masarouna & Oxfam Novib

Thematic area: Category: Accountability of Gender Equality Commitments

Gender gaps are perpetuated by accountability gaps. Over the years, thousands of commitments to gender equality and women’s rights have been made, from the Nairobi Summit, the Generation Equality Forum, to the Global Partnership for Education, commitments have come from all sides including governments, multilaterals, philanthropic organizations, civil society, youth organizations and the private sector. But how do we ensure these commitments are implemented, are realized, and deliver on the ground to grassroot organizations, especially women’s rights, youth-led and youth-serving, and feminist organizations. What accountability mechanisms are being used so that we can monitor the flow of financial resources to feminist movements around the world, and particularly in low-and middle-income countries who are — and have long been — making change happen? Do these mechanisms center civil society, girls, youth, and women? A Space for Accountability will give civil society organizations, youth, and grassroots activists a forum to hold leaders to account, explore gaps, celebrate successes, and propel solutions towards a future where gender equality commitments are co-designed and co-accountable.  

Self-care is an undeniable aspect of individual health behavior and an important and growing component of health systems. Yet, self-care is often overlooked as an area of Universal Health Coverage (UHC). In 2023, world leaders have a unique opportunity to reinvigorate progress toward delivering health for all if they take urgent action. This session will address why self-care should be placed at the heart of the UHC agenda. It aims to raise awareness and mobilize support for the UHC2030 Political Declaration to explicitly and directly acknowledge and champion the vital role of self-care.

Organaized by Self-Care Trailblazer Group

A human-centered design discussion where participants will learn the basics of co-designing digital tools for sexual and reproductive health (SRH) aimed at strengthening health systems. We envision a session divided into two parts: 1) showcase of digital self-care solutions within two different contexts; 2) a discussion on how these digital tools can be connected to existing health systems to increase access and quality of care. We will use two case studies, from Vitala Global and TIP Global Health.

Organized by Vitala Global & TIP Global Health

Women entrepreneurs are proven leaders in addressing challenges disproportionately facing women such as worsening climate change and rising poverty rates. Yet, women founders globally continue to receive less funding than their male counterparts. In this discussion, you’ll hear from early-stage inclusive fintech investors Accion and Mercy Corps on how they have developed gender lens investing frameworks to champion more inclusive investments across the sector. You’ll also hear from women fintech founders on how they are designing and delivering products at scale that meet the needs of women who are traditionally ignored by the global financial system.

Organized by Accion & Mercy Corps

This session focuses on the importance of perinatal mental health (PMH) for birthing individuals and how various forms of gender inequity and intersecting systems of power impact their mental well-being. It emphasizes that gender inequity, along with factors like racism, economic inequality, heteronormativity, cisgenderism, and ageism, can increase the risk of developing common perinatal mental disorders (CPMDs) and hinder access to quality mental health services. The session aims to explore an intersectional-feminist perspective on PMH by bringing together advocates, implementors, healthcare providers, and individuals with lived experiences of CPMDs. Through storytelling and dialogue, participants will discuss ways to prevent and respond to CPMDs using an intersectional framework.

Organized by USAID MOMENTUM Country and Global Leadership; Jhpiego

In West Africa, young people through FHL Group Africa and SheDecides Ghana are using artistic activism to address SRHR challenges and promote bodily autonomy. Through creative interventions such as animations and murals, we create safe spaces and advocate for marginalized groups. Murals painted on community walls tell stories that evoke emotions and advocate for social change, empowering young people to make informed decisions about their reproductive rights. This approach known as the "Community Canvas Project," engages communities and raises awareness of reproductive health issues among young people, transcending literacy barriers through visual messages. The transformative power of art and animation is emphasized in this session that brings together artists and activists to discuss the impact of such interventions and foster collaboration on future projects.

Organized by FHL Group Africa & She Decides Ghana

Intersectionality has become a central approach in feminist work. However, there are still many challenges and questions about addressing this perspective in gender equity actions. Pro Mujer proposes a space for the co-creation of innovative ideas, starting our initiatives with indigenous women: - Community Health Workers Program in Bolivia - Expanding opportunities for women in Southeast Mexico The workshop will be a space for co-creating ideas and intersectional work alternatives. It will use successful cases of Pro Mujer and the participants' experience. We will carry out ideation exercises in working groups with hypothetical cases and end with discussions in plena

Organized by Pro Mujer

Objective: The session will spotlight four activists, who will use personal narrative, poetry and storytelling to share their firsthand experiences, challenges and achievements through their SRHR advocacy. Four activists will be distributed across two main topics: First 30 minutes, OXFAM MODERATES: Storytelling for youth engagement: one young advocate from Malawi (supported by Oxfam) and one Billi Now Now champion (PPG). Second 30 minutes, PPG MODERATES: Storytelling for policy change: one young advocate from the Philippines (supported by Oxfam), and one young advocate from Ecuador and member of the Niñas No Madres Coalition. We will have one host from each organization. There will be 15 minutes for questions and answers. 

Organized by Planned Parenthood Federation of America & Oxfam Canada 

Beyond Borders in Haiti adapted the Raising Voices SASA! methodology for a rural, Haitian cultural context, and then adapted (and created) it for adolescent girls (Power to Girls) and for women and girls with disabilities (Safe and Capable). Global Women’s Institute evaluated the impact of these combined methodologies during a time of crisis in Haiti. World University Service of Canada is now adapting Power to Girls for refugee settlements in Kenya. This session seeks to explain the community mobilization methodologies used, the process of adaptation to leave no one behind, and then to open dialogue with participants – via small group discussions – about challenges and recommendations for leaving no one behind as effective approaches are scaled and applied to new contexts.

Organized by Beyond Borders/ Depase Fwontyè yo | Global Women's Institute | World University Services of Canada 

Thematic area: Mobilizing for Change: Advancing Climate and Gender Justice as One

Climate Justice is gender justice. Climate change disproportionately threatens the most vulnerable girls and women, in all their intersecting identities. Engaging girls, youth, and women in climate action is central to advancing gender equality and strengthening both individual and community resilience to the climate crisis. During this plenary, climate activists, youth, world leaders, journalists, private sector leaders, and practitioners will connect to build bridges between silos as together we find solutions to ensure that girls, youth, and women are at the center of climate justice process. Her Future is Climate Justice will amplify the voices and priorities of grassroots organizations, led by girls, youth, women, the LGBTQIA+ community, and Indigenous people from communities who have been adversely impacted by the climate crisis. The plenary will build out solutions, share key recommendations, and marshal collective action towards climate justice.

The session we will organise is designed to reframe the conversation surrounding menstruation, safe touch and social taboos in a way that empowers young women and women in anti-feminist societies to recognise, label and speak up about the issues they face in their communities. These conversations help unpack the natural, economic, social and wellbeing issues connected to menstruation and being a young woman with the goal of identifying a holistic solution from a grassroots approach. The session stems from our experience modelling conversations featuring diverse perspectives at Green School, a K12 international school in Bali focused on educating for a sustainable future.

Organized by Green School Bali | Perfect Fit ID| BELA

The session will highlight the voices and experiences of a diverse coalition of women and partners engaged in programmatic activities, advocacy and innovations that aim to provide solutions to bridging the inequality gap in NCDs.

The session will explore:

● How can we accelerate national action to eliminate cervical cancer and improve breast cancer care?

● What are the best ways to meaningfully engage women and girls, and particularly youth, to co-create spaces for experience sharing and solidarity?

● How can grassroots innovations promote equitable and sustainable solutions for addressing NCDs among women and girls?

● How can we leverage domestic and international financing to ensure availability of cancer services for women and girls?

Organized by World Health Organization (WHO) & The George Institute for Global Health

Thematic area: Feminist Policies

What will it really take to change our global system? What do systemic alternatives rooted in human rights and centering justice look like? How are feminist foreign policies attempting to tackle some of these issues, or how should they? This session will explore a new global order and challenge existing paradigms so that we may re-imagine what a feminist future can look like. Policy makers, activists, artists, and thought leaders will engage in conversations around issues of taxation, debt and development finance, migration, a caring economy and understanding the enduring impacts of colonization. Join us as we discuss how we can build girls and women’s leadership to construct a feminist world and achieve equitable inclusive growth for all.

On 9 October 2012, Australia's first female Prime Minister – and now GIWL Chair – Julia Gillard stood in Parliament House and delivered one of the most impassioned and iconic speeches in the history of the nation's politics. The “misogyny speech” reverberated around the world and continues to reach further into our collective consciousness to this day. Julia’s words were a call to arms from the highest office in the nation – that misogyny and sexism should no longer be tolerated, because women are entitled to a better standard in private, public and professional life. Over a decade on, her speech continues to inspire and challenge us to call out sexism and misogyny in every field. Join us as Natasha Muhoza interviews Julia Gillard for a discussion on misogyny today and what comes next in the fight for equality.

Not Now, Not Ever: Ten years on from the misogyny speech, edited by Julia Gillard is available to buy HERE and at all good online bookshops.

Organized by The Global Institute for Women's Leadership 

Thematic area: Countering Anti-Rights Movements

One of the most challenging crisis confronting feminism today is the global rollback of rights led by vocal anti-gender and anti-rights movements that seek to undermine many of the hard-fought gains of human rights movements, including those for gender equality. From the rise of gender ideology, anti-trans, and anti-choice movements; activists, and advocates in all corners of the globe are resisting, disrupting, and confronting anti-rights movements and coming together to restore our fundamental rights to health and bodily autonomy. During the first half of this plenary delegates will get an understanding of the global anti-rights movements, their messaging,  resourcing, narratives, and strategies. During the second half, delegates will hear from a diverse set of stakeholders, from government, to faith, and grassroots movements as they reflect on the interconnectedness of our movement, and on the next steps needed to take collective action to safeguard our rights, mobilize advocates and resources, and plan a way forward as a global movement of resistance

The session will be the Virtual Platform launch of the first ever global comprehensive report on: the role of mental health in women’s empowerment. The research findings will be presented, and the implications, and solutions discussed with women’s empowerment and mental health activists and experts.

Organized by Kate Spade New York, Prospira Global

Safe spaces can increase access to information on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) for youth and other people who are marginalized, contributing to gender and health equity. Safe space users in Gaza and Ghana will provide reflections on how they’ve used these spaces and their ideas for improvement. Norsaac (Ghana), the Abdel Shafi Community Health Association (Gaza) and the Culture and Free Thought Association (Gaza) will share their insights on how to create physical and Virtual Platform safe spaces for SRHR that reach young people, people living with disabilities and survivors of gender-based violence, among others.

Organized by Oxfam-Québec | Culture & Free Thought Association | Abdel Shafi Community Health Association |Norsaac

This session discusses emerging evidence on innovative, women-led approaches in PEPFAR Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored, and Safe (DREAMS) programming and other multi-sectoral initiatives, with a focus on mentorship and youth-led labor market assessments. After a panel discussion, the audience will be invited to join an interactive dialogue discussing implications for other contexts and next steps, including how local private sector and other actors can be incentivized to contribute to participants’ ongoing success after a donor-funded intervention ends.

Organized by FHI 360, USAID, and Egoli Youth Empowerment

Thematic area: Decolonization

The global reckoning for racial justice and the increasing calls to shift the power have placed decolonization firmly in the global agenda. What progress have we made towards decolonizing the international development sector and our organizations? and how do we hold ourselves accountable for progress towards decolonizing our organizations? Beyond a seat at the table brings together practitioners, activists, sector and gender equality organization leaders, and academics to take a deep and uncomfortable look at the legacy of colonialism in our work. Together we will assess progress towards the establishment of anti-racist international development sector and discuss the solutions that are driving reform and the lessons learned to date on unlearning colonial logic in our organizations and work. This session will energize the urgent call for a new model, it will equip the audience with practical ways to re-shape their feminism and advocate for a transformative and liberatory gender sector that recognizes and respects the diverse experiences and struggles of women and gender diverse individuals worldwide. 

The world faces a climate crisis. Low-income communities, especially women and girls, bear the brunt of impacts. Governments, international financial institutions and businesses have committed to tackling emissions. This includes 'just transitions': creating decent jobs for workers in low-carbon economies. Gender Equality in a Low Carbon World (GLOW) invites WD2023 participants to consider how these transitions can be gender-just. This session will pool speakers’ and participants’ experience of integrating climate action and gender equality, in policy and practice. Together, we’ll create recommendations for achieving a fully integrated approach.

Organized by Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) | SouthSouthNorth | ODI | SDSN Bolivia | FUSADES El Salvador | CIFOR-ICRAF Cameroon | ACTS Kenya |IDRC Canada

The session will open with a presentation of the work that Malala Fund and ImpactMapper are doing together leveraging storytelling and technology to showcase and illustrate the successes and challenges of social movements and change makers for learning, sharing and fundraising purposes. Malala Fund’s Education Champions will then share a few powerful examples of case studies from their grant report data that demonstrate how to use storytelling for monitoring, evaluation and learning. The last half of the session will be a short interactive training exercise on storytelling that participants will be able to apply in their own work and activism.

Organized by Malala Fund & ImpactMapper

The obstacles to girls’ access to education around the world have long been recognized as significant barriers to social and economic progress and there is an increasing chorus of consensus when the public and private sectors discuss the value of educating girls. Such investments are almost unanimously described in a positive light, both for the long and short term. This session will examine gaps and shortcomings in existing efforts as well as emerging best practices and innovations that help close the gender gap, with a view to addressing some of the logistical and cultural challenges that face girls’ access to quality education.

Organized by Teach For All

Thematic area: Women’s Political Leadership 

Join us for this thought provoking conversation with five extraordinary women leaders who have made remarkable contributions to gender equality and women's empowerment globally. Featuring H.E. Joyce Banda, H.E. Helen Clark, H.E. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, H.E. Mary Robinson, and with an introduction by H.E. Graça Machel, this panel offers a unique opportunity to  delve into their remarkable journeys, highlighting the pivotal moments, challenges faced, and successes achieved along the way. The panelists will reflect on the progress made in achieving gender equality, discuss the existing barriers and persistent challenges, and explore innovative approaches for accelerating change. From political leadership to championing women's rights and social justice, these trailblazing women have shattered glass ceilings and pioneered transformative policies and initiatives. They have been instrumental in challenging societal norms, advocating for women's empowerment, and promoting inclusive governance. With their extensive expertise and visionary leadership, Joyce Banda, Helen Clark, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and Mary Robinson will provide valuable insights into how we can collectively foster inclusive societies, amplify women's voices, and create pathways for future generations of women leaders. Don't miss this unique opportunity to hear from these influential global leaders who have been at the forefront of advancing gender equality and shaping a more equitable and inclusive world. 

Girls are often taught that menstruation makes them impure or inferior to boys, impacting their agency and choices throughout their lives. Lack of access to safe facilities and menstrual products further compounds these issues, causing girls to miss school, and increasing their vulnerability to infections. This session will share implementers' experiences in promoting dignified menstruation and advocating against discriminatory perceptions and practices. It will also focus on the need to create safe spaces for girls and address these challenges through comprehensive sexual education and gender transformative approaches. Participants will learn innovative ideas, develop advocacy strategies, and build alliances toward advancing gender equality. 

Organized by Aids Healthcare Foundation (AHF) & Global South Coalition for Dignified Menstruation

Patriarchal, neoliberal and extractive economies deplete resources while driving up extreme wealth, prioritising short term profits against long term losses (environment, care, well-being). This session will discuss the gendered and racialized aspects of care inequalities, social reproduction, underpaid and unpaid labour and envision an alternative future. Recent years have highlighted building public care systems, including social infrastructure, childcare, eldercare, care for disabilities. However, care workers themselves, mostly women from marginalised communities, are absent in conversations. We will focus on building feminist, inclusive, and resilient care systems protecting the rights of care workers, including decent work conditions, social protection, collective bargaining and others.

Organized by Oxfam International

Meta and other tech platforms’ content moderation policies have been widely criticized for holding back sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) related content. Facebook and Instagram have systemically blocked ads for female health, despite allowing mass ads for erectile dysfunction and male sexual health/wellness - and TikTok, Amazon, Google and other platforms have also rejected access to information about female health. Panelists represent organizations researching, advocating for, and partnering to fund impactful reform of tech platforms’ algorithmic processes and policies - at Meta, TikTok, and other platforms. We’ll discuss how changing censorship of SRHR information will improve: (1) access to health information, (2) equitable conditions supporting women and nonbinary entrepreneurs, (3) technological development and investment in health benefiting women and people with vulvas, and (4) a culture of equity and wellbeing in intimacy. 

Organized by Center for Intimacy Justice;

This session will bring together an intergenerational panel from funding institutions – feminist funds, philanthropies, and beyond – to explore how to fund feminist work that counters white supremacy and centers Black liberation. The panel will make the power of intersectional movements concrete with practical applications across sectors for change.

Organized by Global Fund for Women 

This participatory session will analyze how a new model for predicting the future risk of gender-based violence is an opportunity for feminist movements to increase their reach and influence. The GBV Risk Score methodology and tool was designed for investors to assess the risk GBV poses to investments, but it also offers feminist and humanitarian organizations the ability to influence resource allocation decisions. In groups, participants will explore how the model can be applied for advocacy, gender budgeting, and other forms of resource mobilization, as well as to build broader awareness and action towards creating a future free of violence.

Organized by Criterion Institute & Equilo

The panel session will hear stories directly from female NGO, political, and academic leaders on how economic empowerment and planning for recovery is putting women at the forefront in Ukraine. The speakers will talk about current reforms contributing to gender equality and social inclusion. Through research and programming, they are building a comprehensive economic and policy response to empower women during and post war. The panel participants will share specific examples from projects supporting the Government of Ukraine to protect women’s businesses, embolden marginalised groups, build capacity for gender sensitive war damage assessment and recovery.

Organized by Abt Associates

Thematic area: Movement Building

Strong movements are key parts of ensuring the longevity and sustainability of gender equality across the world. But how do we build inclusive movements and foster meaningful connections in times of crisis and polarization? A Space for All will highlight examples from leaders of some of the most pivotal movement in our lifetimes. Led by youth, this plenary will showcase how some of these movements are working across silos and building transnational solidarity and it will tackle the political, cultural, and organizational challenges faced in attempting to grow feminist movement structures that meet the demands of the moment. Finally, this dynamic plenary will ask us all to explore where we can create more spaces for intersectional and intergenerational movement building, break silos, and join forces to organize in order to shift power on an unprecedented scale.

Countries in the Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO) share features of socioeconomic factors; however, they show wide divergence in how their health systems are established, the social construct of gender, and how it influences their health systems (Mate, 2014). Gender-responsive health systems aim to adopt an inclusive approach to ensure that the gender norms, roles and inequalities are adequately addressed and strengthened within the health system, either in service delivery, health system governance or the health workforce (WHO, 2009). This panel aims to shed light on the challenges faced by the health systems in EMRO to develop a stronger gender-responsive health system. We aim to share good practices from Egypt, Pakistan and Jordan, and their experience in fostering gender-responsive health systems.

Organized by Women In Global Health Egypt

Globally, 50% of adolescent girls experience online harassment before reaching 18 years, leading to one-fifth of girls avoiding posting on social media completely. Online gender-based violence — in the forms of insults, body shaming, and bullying — is not only intended to torment individual girls but work to suppress their participation in politics and curb the diversity of voices and agendas in public dialogues. Our 2023 Women Deliver Session aims to stop online violence against women and girls in political spaces by promoting women’s equitable political participation toward the modern democratization of society and civic normalization. 

Organized by Shariffa Amollo, Bilha Lwanga and Lilian Obondo 

Thematic area: Sustaining Feminist Movements

As the onslaught on women’s rights continues, we need grassroots feminist activists and social movements more than ever. Yet, 99% of foundation grants and official development assistance (ODA) do not reach feminist movements or women’s rights organizations. We need a feminist approach to funding, one that shifts the power and addresses the root causes of social, political, and economic inequalities. Yet the promise of shifting the power in the development sector has yet to be fulfilled and there remains a critical need to understand the power dynamics and entrenched inequalities that can be exacerbated by status-quo resourcing.  This session will explore novel approaches to funding and partnerships. It will answer the question, how can we place more resources in the hands of activists who are creating meaningful change, especially those led by black, brown, and Indigenous girls, women, and gender expansive people. It will be led by organizations that work and are led from LMIC’s, through their lens we will hear from autonomous women’s social movements, donors, philanthropists, global multilateral institutions, NGOs, and frontline advocates, including youth, as they address the gaps, obstacles and barriers in the system to shifting the power and grappling with questions and strategies around how we can radically challenge who sets the agenda, reframe who leads, and who receives funding. Together we can operationalize a new paradigm, scaling up efforts to ensure that resources and agenda setting power are placed with those most affected and best placed to respond and lean-into solidarity, trust, and building collective power.

With the intention of raising awareness about the MISP for SRH and challenging its implementation modalities, this workshop will explore the MISP and the concept of inclusion in SRH services. Additionally, to encourage participants to consider accessible and adapted MISP for different populations, we will conduct a simulation game involving various actors in an initial coordination meeting for a humanitarian response.

Organized by IPPF European Network & YouAct (The European Youth Network on Sexual and Reproductive Rights)

The session will demonstrate the potential of edutainment (educational entertainment) in changing the dialogue and interrupting harmful practices experienced by women and girls ‘at scale.’ The session will include short clips, presentation of evidence and a moderated panel discussion taking examples from diverse West African countries, media modalities (TV soap operas, radio, social media) and gender-based violence typologies. The session will look back on what has been successful, including lessons from rigorous research—as well as looking forward at what holds the most promise for partnership building, innovation and catalyzing change using a feminist advocacy-based approach.

Organized by Réseau African pour l’Education à la Santé (RAES) | International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Infertility is a source of significant health burden as well as stigma and shame for many globally and its burden in many contexts is disproportionally carried by women and other marginalized groups. Globally, 48.5 million couples are affected by infertility. However, fertility care remains inaccessible for most of those in-need and is usually absent from global health discussions during global conferences and country-level policies and strategies. In this session we will share the latest prevalence estimates of infertility globally, share stories of couples-- women and men-- affected by infertility, and models of rights-based and gender transformative care. We plan to create a space for future and forward-looking discussions on universal and rights-based access to fertility care, bringing together an inclusive panel of speakers from international non-governmental organizations, community based organizations and the World Health Organization.

Organized by IPPF & Share-Net

Join Women Deliver and Conference delegates as we celebrate our movement and advocates from around the world, working towards gender equality. As we reflect on a week spent in solidarity, we will recap highlights from the Conference, announce the winners of the “Best of the Fest” from the Arts & Film Festival, and celebrate with art and music. 

This session will explore and highlight the potential of the Gender Transformative Framework for Nutrition (GTFN) to tackle gender inequalities and improve nutrition outcomes by analyzing gender power dynamics and engaging in nutrition programs at national, subnational and community levels. We will discuss the power and challenges of the consultative and engagement process when using a co-creation approach. Experiences from the progress of operationalizing the GTFN and its vision moving forward will be shared, focusing on how to ensure a meaningful voice, as well as the decision-making role of participants and intended end-users from the start of the program and/or policy design and development.

Organized by World Vision Canada |University of Toronto | Action Against Hunger | Bruyère Research Institute | CARE Canada | CARE USA | HealthBridge | Nutrition International | Save the Children Canada

This session will address the opportunities and challenges faced by Latin American social enterprises in mainstreaming gender perspectives to attract investment. Pro Mujer and LeFil will share their proved experience training social entrepreneurs across the Latin American continent in gender mainstreaming and investing into them to scale their impact, through the Gender Mainstreaming Scaling Fund. In this practical and dynamic session, we will hear from the very ventures progressing on their gender mainstreaming journey and hear about the barriers and opportunities they’ve found which have helped them increase their social impact as well as fuel their business growth.

Organized by Pro Mujer - Gender Knowledge Lab &  LeFil Consulting