As the world’s largest conference for advancing the health, rights, and well-being of girls and women, Women Deliver 2023 in Kigali, Rwanda brought together more than 6,000 people on site and 200,000 people virtually from across sectors and the globe. Hosted for the first time on the African continent, Rwanda provided an ideal backdrop for discussions on gender equality, considering the country's notable efforts to advance women's rights. With a significant number of women holding positions in parliament and the cabinet, Rwanda serves as a powerful example of how women's leadership can create positive change.

There was considerable recognition that the global community is meeting at a crossroads of the climate crisis, humanitarian conflict, racism, and a global pandemic. To make progress towards the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to effectively achieve gender equality, we must collaborate in new ways and with a sense of urgency.

Here are my top reflections from participating in Women Deliver as a virtual attendee:

  1. Intersectionality matters. The conference emphasized the pressing need to address gender equality through an intersectional lens. This means recognizing that the experience of girls and women are shaped by a complex number of factors, including race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, disability, sexuality, and more. By embracing intersectionality, we can move beyond a one-size-fits-all approach and ensure that solutions are responsive to the compounding issues girls and women face. To prioritize inclusion and intersectionality, conference session themes spanned climate change, disability rights, education, mental health, resilience in the care economy, and the power of storytelling. In a session on disability rights in the Pacific, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Australian Aid, Pacific Disability Forum, and Women Enabled International shared the results of needs assessment research they conducted on SRHR, GBV, and legal capacity for women, girls, and young people living with disabilities in Vanuatu, Fiji, and Samoa. Now, 100% of service delivery points in Samoa and Tonga include a healthcare provider trained in youth-friendly, disability-inclusive family planning.
  2. We must hold governments accountable. We need governments to inclusively set goals, announce indicators for targets, and transparently track progress towards goals. Additionally, civil society organizations need to be bold and hold governments accountable by measuring progress through both quantitative and qualitative data. In a plenary session, Dr. Geeta Rao Gupta, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues at the U.S. Department of State shared the following example of an inclusive approach. In 2021, the Biden-Harris administration established the Gender Policy Council, which developed the first-ever National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality that spans issues like economic security, health, gender-based violence, and education, and applies to both domestic and foreign policies and programs. The strategy was developed through a robust consultation process that sought input from all levels of government, nonprofit and community-based organizations, faith-based organizations, labor unions, students and youth, private sector, and multilateral organizations at each stage to collectively generate goals and indicators.
  3. Girls, youth, and women must have a seat at the table. The voices of girls, youth, and women must be present at all levels of decision-making, from local communities to international platforms. When diverse perspectives are included in policy and program development, solutions are more relevant, effective, and reflect the needs of the communities they impact. Further, by nurturing the next generation of leaders, we secure a legacy of progress for gender equality that will endure beyond Women Deliver. In a session about the DREAMS project, which aims to reach adolescent girls and young women with economic strengthening, USAID and FHI 360 described male-dominated spaces and culture as a barrier to providing employment linkages. They emphasized the importance of conducting youth-led labor market assessments to ensure that interventions are designed with young people’s perspectives at the center. This improves the effectiveness of the program by increasing youth engagement and improves program sustainability.

As a women-founded and -led organization, gender equality is deeply embedded in the mission and values of Panorama Strategy. We believe that centering women’s leadership and voices is essential to advance progress towards the SDGs. Our work with clients to increase women’s political leadership, advance women’s economic development, understand the investment landscape for climate and health, and strategize for HPV advocacy, has never been more important.

Panorama Strategy is proud to be part of efforts to advance gender equality and will continue to seek ways to emphasize the importance of intersectionality, accountability, and leadership of girls, youth, and women. Our journey continues as we draw inspiration from the words of leaders like Dr Natalia Kanem, Executive Director of UNFPA.

“Remember that courage doesn’t come with an age or experience; it comes from knowing your rights. So let us uphold those rights for women and girls.”

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*Read about our conversation with Dr. Willibald Zeck from UNFPA in advance of Women Deliver here.