ROJDA KIZGIN

News Center- Women Deliver, a leading global advocate that champions gender equality and the health and rights of girls and women, in all their intersecting identities, has been holding global conferences to ensure gender equality with the participation of thousands of people from hundreds of countries since 2007.

Women Deliver held its first conference in London in October 2007. In June 2010, Women Deliver held its second conference in Washington, D.C. Its third global was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in May 2013. Women Deliver held two more global conferences in Copenhagen in May 2016 and in Vancouver, Canada, in June 2019.

Women Deliver 2023 conference held in Rwanda

Women Deliver 2023 conference was held in Kigali, Rwanda, from 16-20 July 2023. Zelal Ayman, coordinating member of the Women’s Human Rights: New Solutions Association, participated in the conference from Turkey. NuJINHA spoke to her about the conference.

Emphasizing that the conference was a successful and productive conference for the global feminist movement, Zelal Ayman said that the messages were given at the conference were against the attacks on women’s gained rights, “They cannot take back our gained rights, and we will fight against anti-egalitarian movements, too.”

 ‘Dozens of women from African countries participated in the conference’

Speaking about the conference, Zelal Ayman said, “The conference kicked off in Kigali on July 16 and lasted for four days. 6,300 people from many countries participated in the conference. More than 2,000 participated in the virtual Conference. Its main theme was the inclusive and co-created spaces that foster solidarity for sustainable solutions on gender equality. At the conference, many panels and artistic activities were held. Since the conference was held in Africa, dozens of women from all African countries participated in the conference. It has become one of the largest conferences since the Covid-19 outbreak; members of NGOs, public institutions, parliamentarians, prime ministers and presidents participated in the conference.”

Zelal Ayman was the only person from Turkey who participated in the conference.  Zelal Ayman talked about why the Women Deliver Conference was only participated by her from Turkey. “Women’s movement in Turkey is not very interested in such international conferences or meetings. As an association, we have been in communication with many international organizations and we have participated in international events and meetings for years. We registered to participate in the conference and I participated in the conference as the representative of the association. Mainstream media never gives place to issues such as gender equality, feminism, women's movement. Alternative media are not interested in such issues very much.”

‘The attacks on women’s gains was one of the issues discussed at the conference’

Giving information about the aims of the conference, Zelal Ayman said, “Many women’s organizations and platforms got in contact with each other and they will keep in contact with each other. I think that was the aim. The relationship and cooperation among women’s organizations and how to grow solidarity were discussed at the conference. At the conference, ‘the empowerment of women and girls is still a very important issue’ was highlighted and all governments were called to be more sensitive to this issue and take concrete steps. The attacks on women’s gains was one of the issues discussed at the conference. One of the messages given by the participants was, 'We will not allow our gains to be taken from us; they cannot take back our rights and we will also fight against anti-egalitarian movements.'”

‘It was a successful and productive conference for the global feminist movement’

Zelal Ayman thinks the conference was an important conference for the global feminist movement. “It was a productive conference for the feminist movement in the Southern Hemisphere. They attended very important meetings and discussions on gender equality, feminism, empowerment of women and girls. In many countries, women know how important such conferences are. I think it was a successful and productive conference for the global feminist movement. 6,300 people from many countries participated in the conference. More than 2,000 participated in the virtual Conference. The outcomes of the conference will be announced in several months. Such conferences should be held more often. If the conference had been held in the Middle East, the participation from Turkey would have been more. We are strong in Turkey, but our influence is very limited. I wish 10,000 women could come together (in Turkey) but the cost of such a conference is very high. I consider global women's empowerment important. Real power comes through the global empowerment of women.”

‘Women have been becoming much more visible’

Speaking about the support of the government of Rwandan to the conference, Zelal Ayman said, “You know, there was a very violent civil war in Rwanda in the 1990s, nearly two million people were massacred in the civil war. After the civil war, the country was rebuilt. Many developments took place in many fields such as economy, social and politics. Women played an important role in rebuilding their society. In Africa, women have been becoming much more visible. 61.3% of parliamentary seats and 55% of ministerial positions are held by women. Women are also visible in the labor force and education. In addition, they are more visible in society. When you wander around in Kigali, you can see this. The conference was supported by the government of Rwanda and the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion. The President of Rwanda made a speech on the first day of the conference. The prime minister of Hungary and the prime minister of Senegal and three-four ministers from other countries attended the opening ceremony of the conference.”

‘I am impressed by African women’

Zelal Ayman also talked about her personal experiences at the conference. “It was a very good experience for me. I think the conference was a successful conference. I can say that it was the most successful conference that I have attended after a long time. I am impressed by African women, African women's movements and organizations. Because as a Kurd, I experienced the difficulties of being colonized, growing up in a colonized country. As a feminist, I felt very close to them. We got along very well and understood each other because they suffered a lot and they still suffer. When I heard that the conference would take place in Rwanda, I wanted to participate in it. A feminist organization in Latin America provided financial support to our association so that I could participate in the conference. I met many women from Latin America and Catalonia. They know the Kurdish movement and Rojava. We had very good talks. I want to keep in contact with them. I also met a feminist woman from Erbil.”