L-R: Co-Chair of WRA Global and CEO of WRA Kenya, Angela Nguku, Global Champion of WRA, Sarah Brown, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Founder & Chairperson of WRA Nepal (SMNF) Dr Arzu Rana Deuba

#WomenAreWatching

Women Are Watching Campaign Launched During UN General Assembly 79 to Amplify Global Advocacy for Maternal and Reproductive Health

As global leaders convened in September 2024 at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, a powerful new campaign, Women Are Watching, from White Ribbon Alliance elevated the urgent call for maternal and reproductive health justice worldwide. With a staggering statistic that every seven seconds a woman or a newborn dies in pregnancy or childbirth, from mostly preventable causes, the campaign urges world leaders to prioritise this critical issue, where progress has flatlined since the beginning of the SDGs in 2015. 

Hundreds of girls and women across Kenya, Nigeria, Nepal, Uganda and Indonesia took part in our new participatory exhibition of 'Women Are Watching' by having their portrait taken and sharing their demand for their reproductive health. The portraits were exhibited in community and national spaces as part of advocacy work in each country, as well as forming our global exhibition launched at the UNGA across many high profile events.

Our flagship event at UNGA 79 was co-coordinating the PMNCH 2024 Accountability Breakfast with PMNCH, WHO, UNFPA, UNICEF, GFF and AlignMNH during the UN General Assembly. Our film 'On Our Watch' was screened at the beginning of the 2024 Accountability Breakfast alongside the 'Women Are Watching' exhibition, ensuring girls’ and women's voices were central to the call for faster progress on reproductive health.

The 'On Our Watch' film also kicked off the high level event "Securing the Health and Rights of Every Woman and Adolescent" co-organised by PMNCH and the Network of Global Leaders, with the presence of Heads of State - H.E. Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa, H.E. Dr William Samoei Ruto, President of Kenya, H.E. Mr Joseph Nyuma Boakai, Sr, President of Liberia, and H.E. Mr Kassim Majaliwa Majaliwaand, Prime Minister of Tanzania, Ministers Hon. Dr. Ibrahima Sy, Minister of Health of Senegal and Hon. Dr. Austin Demby, Minister of Health of Sierra Leone and principals of UN Agencies, Dr. Natalia Kanem, UNFPA, Catherine Russell, UNICEF and Dr. Tedros, WHO. Both events led to critical discussions on how to implement the 77th World Health Assembly resolution on accelerating progress on maternal, newborn and child mortality, with new commitments made by participating countries.