IN THE NEWS

‘We are still alive. We have not died. And we are still moving, still working. So why is the (staff of the former global secretariat in Washington DC) taking away what belongs to us?’

This quote from Angela Nguku is in DEVEX (August 15th) under the headline: ‘Exclusive: A global north-south battle over a maternal health alliance’.

Angela, who leads White Ribbon Alliance Kenya and is Co-chair of White Ribbon Alliance Global, was speaking to the online publication about the challenges our organisation has faced since the former global secretariat in Washington DC announced that WRA was ‘sunsetting’. For instance, the old White Ribbon Alliance website remains in the control of the former secretariat staff, together with the much of the rich evidence of women’s lived experience – on film, in text and pictures – which has been gathered from the grassroots by trusted community members across two decades. This continues to cause confusion.

Nguku describes how she first heard of a high-profile event being held in Washington DC to mark the closing of White Ribbon Alliance. It was earlier this year and although she was already in New York, she was not invited, and nor were any of the leaders of the WRA who continue their advocacy work in many countries across Africa and Asia. Yet Angela was one of the long standing WRA leaders who had already announced their plans for the future of WRA as a fully localised network in the Nairobi Declaration.

‘We continue our journey’ she says, ‘strong and united in our advocacy for women, girls and newborns around the world.’ 

https://www.whiteribbonalliance.global

Email: info@whiteribbonalliance.org