.png?sfvrsn=6d0e27cd_1 "Partnership for Change - v7 (1)")
At the Women Deliver 2023 conference that took place from 17-20 July in Kigali, Rwanda, the largest gathering on gender equality globally, PMNCH and partners ensured young people were at the center of pivotal conversations on gender equality, health and well-being.
"Nobody can tell a story better than those who lived it," said Darshana Rijal, a Women Deliver young leader who spoke at a PMNCH event, encouraging leaders and decision-makers to prioritize the experiences of young people.
Around the world, there are 1.8 billion young people, the largest number there has ever been. Yet it’s believed it’ll be over 130 years before gender equality is achieved, meaning that the young people of today will be held back because of inequity.
Calling this a crisis, in the opening ceremony, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Chair of the Women Deliver board, stressed the need for everyone to stand up or risk being "doomed." "The world has a crisis of leaders and young people must lead the fight for gender equality," she said, highlighting the need for youth to be involved in how to remedy the various gendered challenges.
With a dedicated youth zone, Girls Deliver pre-conference, and numerous young delegates in attendance, the issues youth and adolescents face in the context of gender equality and sexual health and reproductive rights were spotlighted. Every year, at least 12 million girls are married before they reach the age of 18, 1 in 4 partnered girls aged 15 to 19 have experienced intimate partner violence, and 14% of adolescent girls and young women give birth before they reach 18.
To further delve into these issues and to chart a path forward, with a view to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 5 on gender equality, PMNCH co-hosted a series of events throughout the week where young people were given a platform. The events touched upon climate change, health, and gender equality. The overall message was clear; the only way to advance gender equality is to ensure that investment and action is made to address the unique challenges adolescent girls face.
Historically, young people haven’t been involved in decisions that affect them, said Dr. David Imbago, a PMNCH board member. "It’s important to have people involved in policy discussions because it’s a matter of rights," he said.
PMNCH Board Chair Helen Clark laid out how PMNCH was setting the tone by engaging young people in leadership positions and by coordinating the 1.8 Billion Young People for Change campaign while Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai shared how she is working to support young girls in being their own advocates. In a roundtable on climate, Vanessa Nakate, a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, also reminded attendees that young girls must have access to capacity building and funding, and they must always have a place at the table.
Such issues continued to be explored in a subsequent event PMNCH co-hosted as the week segwayed into Women Deliver. The Spaces, Solidarity, and Solutions: Collectively Improving Youth Partnership in SRHR side event was an opportunity to share collective learning, leverage real-life case studies and identify new resources on sexual and reproductive health and rights. Participants also got the chance to learn more about the work of PMNCH at its booth and via a PMNCH-hosted treasure hunt, which had participants visit various areas of the exhibition hall to learn more about the issues facing women and girls today.
The key takeaways from the week were that tokenism must be avoided when meaningfully engaging adolescents and youth; that opening doors encourages participation; and that political advocacy must be led by young people going forward.
"We [must] mobilize the voices of young people to decide what they want and we are also mobilizing other donors, private sector actors, and other foundations to make commitments to adolescents' well-being," said Dr. Flavia Bustreo, PMNCH Chair of Governance and Ethics Committee, in Kigali.
The Women Deliver 2023 theme was Spaces, Solidarity, Solutions. Throughout the week, PMNCH and its partners encouraged young people to continue to have their say on what change they want from world leaders through the 1.8 Billion Young People for Change campaign and the upcoming the Global Forum on Adolescents, taking place in October.
