World Pulse was at Women Deliver! Were you there?

After a four-year hiatus, more than 6,000 in-person and 200,000 online participants convened in Kigali at Women Deliver 2023 this July to celebrate women’s leadership and collaborate toward a feminist future.

A World Pulse delegation of team, board, and community members was on site to advance the power of transformative technology and safe online space for women+ to speak out, grow their leadership, and build movements across borders for gender justice. On-site attendees included Yvonne Chi, Zulma Miranda, Paulina Lawsin-Nayra, Jensine Larsen, Anne Dupont, Mahnaz M. Harrison, and Beth Lacey. 

World Pulse was elated to connect, strategize, and spend time with some of our World Pulse Ambassadors, Changemakers, and Community Leaders who were also in attendance at Women Deliver, many representing their individually sponsored orgs.

“It was like opening the door to an explosion of feminist energy and a kaleidoscope of colors and languages,” said World Pulse Founder and CEO Jensine Larsen. “Hosted in Kigali, Rwanda, the voices and leaders of Africa took center stage. From day one, African women and the nation of Rwanda emerged as pacesetters for a global equal future.”

Larsen said the Spaces, Solutions, and Solidarity conference theme mirrored how the World Pulse community creates safe space to link across borders for solidarity and solutions. Throughout the event, participants heard the theme of one of World Pulse's deeply held beliefs: that we must center those closest to the challenges because they are best positioned to lead the solutions.

World Pulse voices occupied various conference spaces, many in partnership with sister organizations and networks. Those voices included World Pulse Story Award winner Liz Lum, a youth delegate from Cameroon, speaking on panels advocating for sexual and reproductive health; long-time member Aliya Bashir, an award-winning journalist from Kashmir, covering conference panels and events; and Mahnaz Harrison, a World Pulse board member from Iran, presenting innovative ways of using technology to end FGM, which helped culminate in the Kigali Declaration to end FGM. 

Posters lining the conference hallways featured World Pulse Changemaker Blandine Umuziranenge of Rwanda with her innovative menstrual health programs. Girl advocates Carolyn Seaman of Nigeria and Nakinti Besumbu Nofuru of Cameroon showcased their programs in pre-conference events. Meanwhile, World Pulse Digital Ambassador and climate activist Paulina Lawsin-Nayra of the Philippines visited the workshops of noted social entrepreneurs in Rwanda, including the Nyamirambo Women's Center, which employs community women through sewing and walking tours, and World Pulse changemaker Blandine’s Kosmotivo​ that produces washable sanitary pads and hygiene products for women.

In strategy sessions, longtime community member and World Pulse Changemaker Sherna Alexander Benjamin of Trinidad and Tobago underscored the importance of directing more funding to grassroots groups, as board member Chi Yvonne Leina from Cameroon teamed up with Honorine of Rwanda to lead a World Pulse Log On. Rise up. digital training session with Rwandan sisters.

The delegates saw the power of relationships and solidarity in action through each facet of the conference. “For many members, the chance to link arms in person after years of online friendship was pure joy, finding each other in every hallway and room,” Larsen said. 

Several World Pulse team members and community leaders attended the virtual conference, including Lourdes Rivas, Kirthi Jayakumar, Corine Milano, Moutushi Dey, Arrey Echi, Sister Zeph, Busayo Obisakin, and Celine Osukwu.

Were you at Women Deliver? Tell us about your experience in the comments!