Rwanda Hosts Women Deliver 2023 Conference
By Sharon Atieno
Rising from the ashes of the genocide to become one of Africa’s highly competitive regional and global conference centre, Rwanda is set to host the Women Deliver 2023 Conference (WD2023). This is one of the largest global multi-sectoral convenings to advance gender equality.
Running from 17th-23rd, July 2023 in Kigali, the conference will be attended in-person by some 6,000 people while more than 200,000 will participate virtually.
With the introduction of five new elements, the WD2023 conference will enable inclusive and co-created spaces that foster solidarity for sustainable solutions on gender equality.
Among these elements is equipping advocates with the skills they need to take action- before, during and after the conference- through the Global Dialogue, an interactive space where advocates from around the world design and lead workshops, hold discussions, and network on key issues they want to be addressed in the lead up to the conference.
Also, Women Deliver will work in partnership with Regional Convening Partners to maximize global impacts. This is because to coordinate collective action in line with shared advocacy priorities at the conference, advocates need to share progress, exchange ideas and solicit feedback with their own regional context.
To ensure that underrepresented communities in global meetings have access to networking, skills-building and funding opportunities, the organization will also partner with the Adolescent Girls Investment Plan (AGIP), CREA, OutRight Action International, Women Enabled International, the Government of Canada, the Government of Denmark, and the Rockefeller Foundation to develop an inclusive, diverse, accessible, and consultative conference convening that is co-led and co-created.
To achieve gender equality, the other element calls for accessibility and inclusion through virtual platforms and in-person, thus the reason behind the hybrid conference.
Additionally, Women Deliver will create generation equality forum (GEF) advocacy spaces to catalyze the political change, investments, action, and accountability needed to drive progress toward a gender-equal world at WD2023 and beyond.