Equipop's vision is that of a fair and sustainable world in which everyone can participate while realizing their full potential. This involves promoting women's rights around the world and, in doing so, charting a transformative course for societies as a whole. This vision cannot be realized without building broad alliances, and young feminists in West Africa are particularly valuable partners in achieving our mission.
Young feminists in West Africa: agents of change in everyday life
Many movements and organizations in West Africa promote the rights of women and girls in the social, political, health, legal, and civic spheres.
Young voices are emerging with renewed energy to participate in building a more just society, including in the area of sexual and reproductive health and rights. Active on the streets and on social media, denouncing the devastation caused by lack of access to safe abortion in the press, intervening in families to prevent child marriages, training teenage girls in leadership skills and facilitating their access to sexuality education, opening dialogue with adults, men, and traditional leaders, these young people are pushing boundaries, often taking risks. Equipop is convinced that now more than ever, we must systematically contribute to ensuring that these voices are heard in all spaces where tomorrow's policies are being shaped, whether at the local, national, or global level.
Amplifying the voices of young feminists in West Africa: on the way to Biarritz... and beyond!
It was precisely to "amplify the voices of young feminists in West Africa" that Equipop organized a meeting in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, from November 27 to 30, 2018.
The call for expressions of interest received more than 130 applications in less than a month. In the end, around 30 participants from Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Senegal gathered for four days to exchange ideas and develop joint actions.
Our shared challenge today is to build on this momentum, which responds to a clearly expressed need among participants for support for collective action in the French-speaking world. In the short term, Equipop will support participants' involvement in certain political processes in 2019, particularly the G7 summit in Biarritz in August. Because let's not forget that "anything done without young people and women is done against young people and women!"
G7 Sherpa meeting in February in Lyon and CSW in March in New York: representatives of this movement have already begun to relay messages developed collectively during political meetings. And this is only the beginning, as other key events in 2019 have already been identified: Women 7 in May in Paris, Women Deliver in June in Vancouver, and the Global Fund replenishment meeting in October in Lyon.
Building a long-term partnership
But in the longer term, the aim will be to help respond to the various challenges identified by these young feminists: developing their respective actions at the local level, building a space for exchange and partnerships between young feminists in French-speaking West Africa, and participating in various political processes from the local to the international level. All of this will be done in conjunction with existing initiatives on the African continent and around the world. Equipop has benefited greatly from these connections and is very proud to be involved in this movement at its own level. The adventure is far from over!
