Natalia Kanem

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

Interpretation will be provided in English, French, Spanish, and International Sign Language.

The global health landscape has undergone significant shifts, impacting sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), includling the emerging harmful anti-rights movements that hinder SRHR progress. Advocates, practitioners, multilateral leaders, private sector innovators and duty bearers will highlight the importance of bodily autonomy and reproductive justice. They will also share their insights on how to address urgent challenges in SRHR. Converstations will center on how to catalyze funding and expand our understanding of family planning, keeping bodily autonomy and its impact on personal agency, equality, and well-being at the forefront of much-needed global shifts. This will be followed by a fireside talk that will explore the far-reaching consequences of abortion restrictions and the women who are working to restore this crucial right. Together we will map sustained progress towards a world where everyone can make decisions about their own life and future.

Opening: Jennie Joseph, Common Sense ChildBirth

Moderator: Dr. Joannie Bewa, MD, MPH is a physician, researcher, global advocate for girls, women and reproductive health

Group 1:

• Dr. Natalia Kanem, Executive Director UNFPA
• Catalina Devandas Aguilar, Executive Director Disability Rights Fund (DRF)

Group 2:

• Anita Zaidi, President of the Gender Equality Division, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
• Easter Okech, KEFEADO in Kenya

Group 3:

• Samukeliso Dube, Executive Director FP2030
• Kevin Ali, Chief Executive Officer Organon

Minister Harjit Sajjan, Minister of International Development of Canada

Fireside Chat (Abortion Rights):

• Dr. Angela Akol, Director IPAS Africa Alliance
• Ana Cristina Gonzalez Velez, Causa Justa
• Nancy Northup, President and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights

This will be a solution oriented event looking at how to overcome legal, medical and societal barriers to quality abortion care. It will be a roundtable discussion with country representatives, and representatives from various organisations discussing solutions to expand access to quality abortion care, including how to expand access to self-managed abortions, overcoming barriers put in place by governments and as a result of wider societal norms. Organized by Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

Made up of over 1000 women’s organisations and mostly female activists across Africa.

#FrontlineEndingFGM is a movement ending FGM faster and cheaper than any other.
Yet only two per cent of donor funding reaches them directly. Why?

Come and meet this powerful force of local campaigners, many of them survivors, who are taking back control of ending FGM from the international private contractors – or what the Economist calls: “beltway bandits”

#FrontlineEndingFGM will also unveil the techniques and tools they are already using in 14 countries across Africa to end FGM – from the smallest local radio station to the Frontline Feminist Digital Directory that has taken ten years to build.

Backed for nearly ten years now by the United National Population Fund, UNFPA, the Wallace Global Fund and the Global Media Campaign to End FGM .

The #FrontlineEndingFGM leadership in this session will show how funding, local know-how, and survivor passion will end FGM by 2030.

Session format: Whole System in a Room

Organized by UNFPA, Wallace Global Fund, iREP, Brighter Society Initiative, Global Media Campaign, FrontlineEndingFGM