Our Tranby team recently travelled to Naarm (Melbourne) to attend the Women Deliver Conference from 27-30 April. This was a historic moment for Women Deliver, being hosted for the first time in the Oceanic Pacific, spotlighting strong women at the forefront of climate justice and advancing the rights of women and girls. Over a powerful few days, we came together with leaders, grassroots organisations, advocates, policymakers, corporates and government representatives, working towards gender equality, and the health and wellbeing of women and girls.
Why did 6,000 delegates from 189 countries gather? Because change called us there. We came to share stories and shape strategies for empowering women and girls across the world. Against a backdrop of escalating global violence and a backsliding of gender equity, this is a time to stand together: to challenge inequitable systems, and to stand with Indigenous communities everywhere.
The main themes that the Conference explored were:
- Adolescent girls’ sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR)
- Climate justice as a gender and age issue
- Countering anti-rights narratives; and
- Strengthening multilateral action
During this convening, we were reminded of a truth our ancestors have always known: our struggles are interconnected; woven together, like islands held in the same ocean. And so, our liberation, and our strategies for upholding justice, must also be interconnected; woven into a fabric of equity, respect, reciprocity and learning, guided by our global matriarch, Mother Earth.
For the first time, the conference was held in the southern hemisphere, and it felt deeply significant to be welcomed onto the lands of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Peoples of the Kulin Nation, in a gathering shaped by shared purpose. Our attendance was generously supported by the Judith Neilson Foundation, which made it possible to share our work on an international stage and connect with a wide network of Changemakers. We also acknowledge Wiyi Yani U Thangani for supporting our former Yanalangami Program Manager Katherine Stone, in recognition of their Changemaker spirit!
We heard from an extraordinary line-up of formidable women including Dr June Oscar AO, Dr Maliha Khan, The Hon Julia Gillard AC, Dame Jacinda Ardern, Antoinette Braybrook AM, Dr Elizabeth Kerekere, Debbie Kilroy OAM and UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed. We were also heartened to run into several Yanalangami Changemakers, each proudly representing their communities and organisations.
Together, we grew connections with inspiring women and Indigenous-led organisations, planting seeds for future collaboration. A particular highlight was witnessing the first-ever co-created First Nations Women’s Gender Justice Statement, a deadly, collective process grounded in truth, sovereignty and shared power. It was a hugely impactful time, and we’re excited to see what grows from this gathering of strong women.
Being part of Women Deliver was a valuable opportunity to both share our work and learn from others around the world. We’re grateful to the organisers for helping elevate the voices and experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and communities, and for supporting stronger connections across movements working towards gender equity and justice.
It was an inspiring and energising few days that have grounded us even more deeply in the local priorities and the global focus of our work at Yanalangami. It has renewed our commitment to our Changemakers and strengthened our global sisterhood networks.
Women Deliver affirmed what many grassroots leaders already know: the most powerful solutions are locally led, culturally grounded, and shaped through complex, place-based collaborations. Across communities, women are not waiting for systems to change; they are already designing and leading innovative responses to global challenges, rooted in strength, knowledge and connection to Country.
To transform systems, we must continue investing in these locally led solutions. Old systems carry old stories of power. If we only respond to the symptoms of inequity; exclusion, violence, disconnection, without naming and shifting the systems themselves, we risk reinforcing what has long been normalised.
Every system is shaped by its own history and place. And it is within that same place through grassroots leadership, collaboration, and deep listening that new pathways are being forged. So our work asks us to stay clear on both role and responsibility: to back community-led change, to walk alongside, and to shift where power sits.
This is how local solutions rise to meet global challenges. This is how transformative change takes root.
With deep respect,
The Yanalangami Team