Curtains came down at the four-day Women Deliver 2019 Conference in Vancouver, Canada with most delegates feeling energized, powerful and inspired.
Thousands of participants from around the globe departed to their destinations fully re-charged to continue advocating for gender equality and specifically the rights of women and girls.
Vereso Mwanga spoke to a section of Kenyan Civil Society groups on lessons learnt in the convention held under the theme of Power, Progress, Change.
Diana Sifuna Chief Executive Officer Youth Agenda Kenya was inspired by the large turnout of stakeholders in the gender equality movement who were not afraid to expose their vulnerabilities.
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“My key take out is that the youth agenda and the women agenda is ultimately the development agenda, we must have an inclusive society, inclusivity is everything”, she said.
Jennifer Mutinda a grassroots coordinator in Kitui County says she has learnt to use her leadership position, “to seek more collaboration between community led initiatives and local governments to implement development programmes.”
Odenda Lumumba Chief Executive Officer Kenya Land Alliance said, “Meeting people from different shades of experiences willingly sharing what they have leant over time and willing to push on with efforts of making a difference in people lives, it has empowered me, it has encouraged me that I am not alone doing what I have been doing persistently in my life.
Fridah Githuku Executive Director Groots Kenya : “I think the women deliver conference is the most powerful after Beijing, we have seen the best of the best women in this gathering, we have so much power as women rights activists and organizations and we should optimize it, leverage on it for improved results back home.”
Florence Syevuo Country Coordinator SDGS Kenya : “It my first time at a gender equality global conference. There is so much for us as far as organizing better, there are many opportunities at global regional and down to national level. I want to take this goodwill and ensure those in village level actively engage, to see a change in lives in terms of decreasing maternal mortality, women empowerment and political participation. How to ensure lessons learnt here are taken back home so that our policies speak to implementation, monitoring and evaluation of all Sustainable Development Goals.”
Gender equality advocates are now looking forward to the Beijing +20 at the 59th session of the Commission on the Status of Women in New York USA, next year ahead of the next Women Deliver conference to be held in South Africa in 2022.
