Nairobi, Kenya — In Africa, sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) are undergoing a quiet but powerful transformation. Many countries are changing their policies. They are expanding contraceptive and maternal health services, improving HIV prevention efforts, and challenging deeply rooted social norms and stigmas. Despite this progress, young people and adolescents face a growing storm of intersecting crises.
The threat of armed conflict, humanitarian disasters, and climate-related disruptions continues to damage schools, clinics, and livelihoods. At the same time, shrinking civic space and anti-rights movements undermine bodily autonomy, sexual education, and the inclusion of LGBTQIA+ people. Cuts in funding from international donors are also making vulnerabilities worse, especially in countries with poorly funded health systems.
A critical five-year window is approaching that will determine the strength or reversal of current gains for Africa as we reach the Sustainable Development Goals deadline in 2030.
What is clear is that progress on gender equality and SRHR is at a crossroads. Shrinking financing, intensifying backlash against gender rights, and the erosion of civic space risk reversing decades of hard-won achievements and further marginalising women, youth, and vulnerable communities.
Follow us on WhatsApp | LinkedIn for the latest headlines
“Change has brought us here because we have all committed to change,” said Jude Thaddues Njikem of Sonke Gender Justice, who framed the convening as part of a larger movement.
“We are here to add our voice to a growing movement demanding change – change for our communities, change for our continent, change for our world.” In just five years, Njikem said, the social development movement has seen a sharp spike in energy, but progress remains uneven. Sexual and reproductive health and rights, as well as political rights, are advancing in some countries, yet alarmingly falling in others.
He warned that shrinking resources continue to threaten gender justice work. Most painfully, he revealed that “90% of women-led organizations are already closing their doors” because they can no longer carry out the vital work they have done for years. “When that happens, he said, “their voices are not heard… the space is dead.”
He also highlighted inequalities in access to reproductive health, pointing to research showing that although 97% of women reportedly have access to contraception, 2.6 million young women remain at risk of unintended pregnancies, leading to nearly 3,000 maternal deaths.
We cannot afford to be silent on the impact. We need to act.
“Our continent has the world’s largest and fastest-growing youth population,” Njikem said. “We must invest in that youth population; otherwise, we cannot predict or secure the future of young people on the continent.”
He said that the gathering aimed to imagine African feminists and advocates as “champions of innovative financing for gender equality across the continent.” They would critically examine the African human rights system, including the Maputo Protocol (the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa), and assess how effectively it is protecting women and girls in reality. A key goal, he said, is to better equip African feminists to amplify their voices on the global stage.
There is still reason for hope, Njikem said.
Community-based cooperation across Africa shows that with political will and creative financing, meaningful progress is possible. But this requires action: “We must hold our governments accountable,” he said, urging them to improve employment opportunities and allocate 15% of national budgets to health, as agreed in the Abuja Declaration. International partners must reverse funding cuts and instead increase investment in gender equality and sexual and reproductive health and rights, he said.
“Our diversity is our strength,” said Njikem. “Our unity is our power. Change has brought us here. Let us rise to meet it.”
Maliha Khan, CEO of Women Deliver, described the difficult global and regional landscape for gender equality. She said that the world is witnessing a rollback of rights, a trend that is also being felt across Africa. According to Khan, “there’s been a rise of fascist and right-wing governments that are restricting the rights of citizens and individuals,” compounded by overlapping crises, from climate shocks to ongoing conflicts.
She said many participants are living these realities daily, facing the consequences of shrinking civic space. “The civic space that we all enjoy… is shrinking and shrinking,” she warned, adding that this erosion is especially severe in parts of Africa.
Khan said that Africa, with the world’s youngest population, is particularly vulnerable to climate impacts and economic injustice. She pointed to recent cuts in overseas development assistance (ODA) and social services, declaring: “The recent months have shown with ODA shutting down, the cuts that are happening in so many of the social services that people rely on, particularly for health and education, and social security.”
Despite these setbacks, she praised the resilience of African activists, saying they continue to push back and demand accountability. Many, she said, insist that ODA must continue, framing it as a form of reparative justice owed by the global minority to the global majority and especially to Africa. She praised growing regional cooperation across the continent and the mobilization of local and national resources to fill funding and service gaps created by anti-rights movements.
“We all recognize the need and the impact and the utility of regional convenings. Bringing people together, having that sense of solidarity, discussing and debating in these areas to innovate and bring about the change we want to see,” she said. She said it was encouraging to see so many participants carrying that momentum forward, ensuring that the voices, priorities, and demands of African women and girls are represented at the next Women Deliver Global Conference, scheduled for April 2026 in Naarm in Melbourne, Australia.
Khan added that one of the goals of this convening is to bring African experiences and perspectives into the Global Feminist Playbook, which Women Deliver aims to launch in Melbourne. This playbook will help articulate what systemic change should look like, particularly in a world where millions are deprived of essential services and decisions are often made far from the communities most affected.
Anders Thomson, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Country Representative in Kenya, described the gathering as an essential African-led convening whose core purpose is “reclaiming space, rebuilding power” and protecting feminist and youth-led action in the critical window between now and 2030.
He spoke candidly about the global context, pointing to the rising geopolitical tensions, shrinking civic space, and what he called a growing rollback on the rights of women and girls. With deep cuts to global aid, especially for gender equality and sexual and reproductive health and rights, he warned that “we might actually see a reversal in some of the progress” already achieved. Yet he stressed that “our activism, our resolve might make up for lost ground,” even as “the writing is on the wall.”
“We are under threat,” he said, adding that activism might help reclaim lost ground, but the risks remain clear.
Thomsen urged participants to confront the difficult choices ahead. “We are facing a choice between funding life-saving services and watching decades of progress unravel,” he said. He said that the consequences of cuts are not abstract: the impact is felt “in the lives of every woman and girl who may lose access to essential care.” For him, this is not merely a financial issue but “a crisis of rights, of equality and of accountability.”
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
“Yet, even in this moment of uncertainty, Africa’s voice must not fail,” he said. “We must rise stronger, united, and unapologetic because the future of women’s rights and gender equality depends in large part on how we act now and how we act together, especially here in Africa.”
The continent, home to the world’s youngest population with 70% of people in sub-Saharan Africa under 30, holds immense potential. “This is not just a statistic,” he said. “It is a breeding ground for power, creativity and potential.” That potential, however, can only be realized if young women and men, especially adolescent girls, have bodily autonomy, access to education, and real participation in decision-making spaces.
At UNFPA, he said, “we believe in the power of young people” and reject the old cliché that youth are only leaders of tomorrow. “Youth are not the leaders of tomorrow… they are the leaders of today.” Through initiatives like the Local Youth Consortium, FGM Africa, and partnerships on women’s health and youth governance, UNFPA has seen how intergenerational collaboration can shift norms and accelerate progress. When youth are trusted, funded, and given authority, “they do not just participate, they redefine movements.”
He urged participants to anchor their advocacy in the African Union’s Maputo Protocol, “our commitment to gender justice has a name… and it is African-led,” and to use it as the gold standard for human rights on the continent.
Thomsen invited activists and development partners to renew their commitment and prepare for the work ahead. He urged them to find not only courage “because you already have it” but also new strategies and tactics to push the movement forward.
“Let’s act in unison, collectively, because change calls on us here today, and together we can answer,” said Thomsen.
