Women Deliver, the world’s largest conference on gender equality took place in Vancouver from 3-6 June 2019 with a theme of Power. Progress. Change and the ambition to accelerate progress for girls and women everywhere.

Girl Effect, along with key partners Nutrition International, Gavi and DFAT, joined more than 8,000 people from sectors including charity and NGOs, world leaders, government officials, private sector leaders, academics, activists, and journalists.

The critical theme of youth engagement was clear from the opening keynote, with 18 year old Natasha Wang Mwansa delivering a powerful speech and earning a standing ovation.

In a joint session on harnessing the power of mobile technology, Girl Effect CEO Jessica Posner-Odede and Joel Spicer, CEO of Nutrition International discussed Girl Effect’s Springster platform and how the partnership improves nutrition practices among adolescent girls, Spicer heralded the partnership as an example of how to break out of siloes to achieve more impact.

Elsewhere at the conference, Theresa Dzanjalimodzi, cast member for Zathu, spoke about Girl Effect’s innovative partnership with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. Zathu uses music and storytelling to empower young people to understand their health, as well as drive greater demand for the life-saving HPV vaccine.

Girl Effect CEO, Jessica Posner Odede, also met up with Marie-Ange Saraka-Yao, Managing Director of Resource Mobilization and Private Sector Partnerships for Gavi, to record this Facebook live about the two organisations’ innovative partnership.

The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) invited Jessica to present Girl Effect’s Technology Enabled Girl Ambassador programme, a girl-led peer to peer research app unlocking real time insights into girls’ lives. The session included DFAT’s Natalie Cohen and World YWCA’s Casey Harden, alongside this film on TEGA’s work in Bangladesh.

PMNCH noted the power of Girl Effect’s approach when Theresa and Jess teamed up for a panel to speak about engaging young people in Malawi to drive health and education outcomes.

Away from the talks, the Women Deliver Film Festival screened Girl Effect and Nutrition International’s partnership film as well as two films about Medeset and Alemtsehay, two Ethiopian girls inspired by the youth brand Yegna in Ethiopia.

Before the sun set over Vancouver Harbour on the final day of the conference, there was opportunity for Girl Effect to run a session with Youth Deliver delegates on attitudes towards sexual and reproductive health, digital technology and advocacy. The results of which will help shape the new TEGA research project with Women Deliver in Malawi, Rwanda, and India, leading to more youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health and rights interventions.