On the occasion of March 8, 2026 — International Women's Rights Day
Preface
This year, the theme of International Women's Day, "Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL women and girls," resonates as an urgent call to action. A call that echoes the realities that millions of women and girls face every day, profound obstacles that jeopardize their personal and social development and advancement.
And yet, on the ground, they are resisting and transforming not only their own lives, but also those of their communities.
Through the Essential Voices initiative, we support 76 grassroots community organizations in six countries in West and Central Africa (Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Togo, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Senegal) to ensure that women and girls have a say in decisions that affect their health, safety, and future.
The following five stories are no exception. They illustrate what becomes possible when women are accompanied, supported, and recognized as agents of change. They tell of rights claimed, justice obtained, and actions taken where sometimes the context made victory impossible.
On March 8, we are sharing the achievements of five of our organizations. Because their voices are essential.
In the Couffo department of Benin, where malaria incidence exceeded 57% in 2025, the Reine Adjignon Natabou Foundation (FRAN) has launched an ambitious advocacy campaign to accelerate the elimination of malaria by 2030.
As the disease continues to hit communities hard, women and girls are among those most at risk. Yet they remain too often absent from decision-making spaces: excluded from strategies, invisible in the development of responses.
To anchor change in local realities and better respond to community needs, FRAN mobilized women religious, traditional, and community leaders. Together, they brought the voices of the most vulnerable households to decision-makers and played a key role at every stage of the process.
Working hand in hand, they organized community consultations in the municipalities of Klouékanmè, Toviklin, and Lalo, led an awareness-raising caravan that reached more than 1,000 people, and co-developed 2026 action plans incorporating gender-sensitive measures.
This mobilization led to a historic result: the signing of a charter of commitment by the Prefect of Couffo and the mayors of the municipalities, recognizing the need to allocate budgetary resources dedicated to the fight against malaria.
This breakthrough demonstrates a key reality: when women's leadership is recognized, organized, and supported, health policies change. Women are no longer mere beneficiaries of programs—they become actors and architects of the decisions that shape their future.
In Côte d'Ivoire, gender-based violence remains too often buried in silence. Marie-France Kouakou has chosen to make it visible through images, words, and action.
A communications specialist and expert in gender and development, she founded the NGO Overcome Women with one conviction: to change attitudes so that no woman is ever again a victim of violence. Under her leadership, the organization develops innovative community programs, organizes awareness-raising caravans mobilizing thousands of people across the country, and produces films that give a human face to realities that are often silenced. Among them is Silence Mortel, a deeply moving thriller about domestic and sexual violence, screened at our event in Dakar in partnership with our partner Canal+ as part of the 16 Days of Activism.
Marie-France Kouakou does not stop at the field. Her commitment has opened the doors to the highest authorities: consultant to the World Bank and the UNESCO Chair on Women and Decision-Making, appointed in February 2025 as Country Chair of the G100, the network of the world's most influential women, she joined the Ivorian Ministry in 2026. Women and Decision-Making, and appointed Country Chair of the G100, the network of the world's most influential women, in February 2025, she joined the Ivorian Ministry of Women, Family, and Children in 2026 as Director of Women's Economic Empowerment.
From civil society to decision-making spheres, Marie-France Kouakou embodies what Voix EssentiELLES holds dear in its mission: organized women whose leadership transforms policies, practices, and perspectives in the service of communities.
In Saaba, a rural community on the outskirts of Ouagadougou, violence against women and children was a daily occurrence and considered inevitable. In a predominantly illiterate population, women were unaware of their rights, financially dependent on their spouses, and often lived in isolation. Thirty of them had been identified by the Association Soutien aux Enfants et Femmes Vulnérables (ASEFV) as survivors of gender-based violence, with no safety net, no recourse, and no prospects.
ASEFV opted for a comprehensive response: not only supporting victims, but transforming the dynamics of the entire community. Its headquarters became a shelter for women and children in distress. Listening circles were set up so that women could talk, be heard, and rebuild their lives. Capacity-building sessions have been organized for local men. And when alerts come in from other local associations, ASEFV mobilizes its network to find collective solutions.
But the organization went even further: aware that economic dependence is one of the main drivers of violence, it organized training sessions to empower women about their rights and introduce them to entrepreneurship. Three months after the training, the majority of participants had launched their own income-generating activities. Among them, Rihanata Bamogo, 50, testifies: "Before the training, I had lost confidence in myself. Today, with my small Kokodonda business, I earn a decent living and take care of my family. I have regained a useful and respected place in my community." Rihanata is now asked to share her experience at talks on women's rights and organizes training sessions for other women herself.
What ASEFV has built in Saaba is a chain of solidarity: associations that help each other, men who educate themselves, women who get back on their feet and, in turn, reach out to others.
In the Savanes region in northern Togo, women had long been excluded from decisions that shaped their daily lives. Community councils, local budgets, development plans—everything was decided without them. Patriarchal norms, resistance from traditional leaders, and a lack of confidence among women themselves perpetuated this exclusion.
Faced with this situation, the Women and Development Network (REFED), a member organization of Voix EssentiELLES, has engaged in methodical and patient advocacy: visits to the governor, prefects, mayors, and 18 canton chiefs in the prefecture of Tône, leadership-building workshops, radio campaigns, and mixed community dialogues. This multi-pronged strategy and sustained effort aims to challenge "norms" and finally enable women to influence decisions that affect them.
The results are now concrete and historic.
Ms. TIAME Namgore, 53, now serves as a municipal councilor for the commune of Tône 4. I used to think that these responsibilities were reserved for men. Thanks to training and advocacy, I have come to understand that my voice matters.
Ms. DOUTI GOURYAMA Yendoukoi, 45, was elected Deputy Mayor of Tandjouéré 1 in July 2025, a historic first for the municipality. "I am proof that when women are trained and supported, they can transform their communities."
Ms. N’GAME Tchandame, 56, became the first female mayor of the municipality of Oti-Sud 1, in a community where, in her own words, “women were meant to have children and stay at home.”
Three women. Three municipalities. One movement: that of an organization which, thanks to the support of Voix EssentiELLES, has been able to transform advocacy into real power.
Ramatoulaye Dia saw her future slip away when decisions were made for her. Like many young girls in her Fulani community in Ouro Mollo, in the Matam region of Senegal, she was married at an early age. Her path was then set, according to the cultural expectations of her region, and taking care of her home became her only priority, to the detriment of her studies.
Ramatoulaye's life changed when she joined a girls' association in her hometown of Matam. There, she learned about her rights, regained her self-confidence, and found the strength to make decisions for her own well-being. This association is AMFE Senegal (Association pour le Maintien des Filles à l'École), an organization supported by Voix EssentiELLES. A little over a year after joining, she left her marriage. Not to break with her community, but to find herself.
She continued her studies, obtained her high school diploma, and is now pursuing a university degree in geography, specializing in climatology. Rewriting her story has led her to reach out to other girls in her community who are also deprived of their rights.
Today, Ramatoulaye raises awareness in schools, facilitates intergenerational community dialogues, and advocates for girls' education in local forums. In Ouro Mollo, she brings together the village chief, the imam, dignitaries, and religious leaders around the same table to openly address the issue of female genital mutilation and early marriage.
What Voix EssentiELLES has supported here is not just one woman's journey. It is the transformation of a beneficiary into a leader capable of influencing her family, her peers, and the guardians of social and moral power in her community.
Rights. Justice. Action. These are not just words. They come to life in the stories of Ramatoulaye, Marie-France, Hortense, N'Game, Tiame, Douti, and thousands of other women and girls whom our organizations support every day.
In a context where funding is declining and rights are being challenged, these stories remind us of an essential truth: that change is possible. And often, it starts with a woman who decides to take her place, a woman who raises her voice, inspires others to follow her lead, and paves the way for a more just future for all.
In Ouagadougou, women's organizations, health authorities, and technical partners gathered at a multisectoral forum organized as part of the Essential Voices | Women's Leadership Against Malaria initiative. The goal: to institutionalize gender in national malaria control policies and position women's leadership as a key lever for elimination in Burkina Faso.
Ouagadougou, February 17, 2026 – In a country where malaria remains the leading cause of medical consultations and hospitalizations, elimination cannot be achieved without the structured mobilization of women, who are a key target group for malaria, as well as children under the age of 5. It was in this context that the multisectoral forum "Women & Malaria: Transforming Female Leadership into a Force for Malaria Elimination" was held, organized as part of the Essential Voices | Women's Leadership Against Malaria initiative, led by Speak Up Africa and funded by the Global Fund.
According to the Ministry of Health's 2024 statistical yearbook, malaria accounts for:
These figures highlight the urgent need for a coordinated, inclusive, and sustainable response.
Women, who are at the forefront of households and communities, are responsible for prevention, promoting the correct use of mosquito nets, providing care support, and monitoring the treatment of family members. However, their strategic role is still insufficiently integrated into decision-making and budgetary processes.
Bringing together SP-Palu, sectoral ministries, technical and financial partners, community leaders, and civil society organizations, the forum provided a structured framework for dialogue and engagement. In the fight against malaria, women are both priority targets and key actors. As such, they must play a full and active role in strategic decision-making, as community influencers, guardians of prevention, and trusted intermediaries.
This change, driven by women from these communities, is based on three essential conditions:
This forum, held as part of the Essential Voices | Women's Leadership Against Malaria initiative, highlighted the importance of community action in health governance. Because lasting change stems from the connection and alignment between policies and dialogue with communities, with a view to jointly developing appropriate strategies.
As stated by Irène Zoungrana, President of the Vision Nouvelle Association:
"To defeat malaria in Burkina Faso, women must be involved in the fight."
At the heart of the discussion: how can female leadership be turned into a sustainable institutional lever?
This forum identified three priority areas:
The validation of a roadmap accompanied by a monitoring mechanism marks a significant step forward toward a structured and measurable contribution by women's organizations to the national goal of elimination.
For Roukiattou Ouédraogo, Regional Advocacy Advisor at Speak Up Africa:
"Giving women a voice means recognizing their ability to influence public policy, mobilize resources, and bridge the gap between community realities and national decisions."
Eliminating malaria is not solely the responsibility of the health sector. It involves institutions responsible for gender issues, local authorities, religious and traditional leaders, the media, and the private sector.
The representative of SP-Palu, Dr. Sidzabda Kompaoré, welcomed this mobilization, emphasizing:
"This forum is a major opportunity to strengthen coordination and accelerate action toward the elimination of malaria."
In the context of digital transformation, community mobilization and digital communication have also emerged as strategic levers for amplifying impact.
Community organizations (Association Vision Nouvelle, ONIDS, Association KAMY), under the leadership of the Réseau des Voix EssentiElles du Burkina Faso, call on all stakeholders, public institutions, technical and financial partners, community organizations, and opinion leaders to:
Eliminating malaria by 2030 is possible.
It will require strong, coordinated, and inclusive multisectoral mobilization.
And at the heart of this mobilization: women.
By Farida Tiemtoré, Founder of Héroïnes du Faso, Essential Voices of Burkina Faso, and Member of the Global Fund Youth Board
Sport, health, and community leadership came together in Rabat on January 17, 2026, as part of Speak Up Africa in Action. This meeting brought together world football champions, decision-makers, health leaders, and communities. I was there as a female community leader, Voix EssentiELLES, but also as a committed champion of #SpeakUpAfricaInAction, with a clear mission: to give a voice to those who take action every day on the ground, often without being seen or recognized.
I had the honor of speaking on a panel alongside committed figures such as Dr. Michael A. Charles, CEO of the RBM Partnership to End Malaria, Fatma Samoura, former Secretary General of FIFA, and Mr. Mohamed Amine Zariat, President and Founder of Tibu Africa. This diversity of profiles perfectly illustrated the spirit of Speak Up Africa In Action: bringing together sport, health, decision-makers, and communities around the same table to move forward together.
During this panel discussion, I reiterated a reality that we are well aware of on the ground. In our neighborhoods and villages, it is women who educate, care for, mobilize, and protect families. However, when women-led, community-based organizations are not recognized as true partners, the solutions proposed often remain disconnected from the reality on the ground.
Community trust is weakening, particularly on sensitive issues such as vaccination and malaria prevention. Women and children remain underserved. Programs exist, but their impact remains fragile because they are not sufficiently supported from within.
Conversely, when these organizations are recognized as true Essential Voices, everything changes. Actions become more appropriate. Trust is established because the messages come from well-known and respected women. People are no longer just beneficiaries: they become agents of change.
Since 2022, I have been proud to be a product of the Voix EssentiELLES initiative, which has given me the space, legitimacy, and strength to carry this voice further.
When I was asked what I believed was the key to achieving success together, my answer was clear: recognition and investment in Essential Voices. What we ask for, as women community leaders, is not just to be invited to the table. It is to be recognized as true partners.
As in sports, you can never win with just one player. Every voice counts, and it is together that we can go all the way. This is precisely what Speak Up Africa In Action demonstrates: a platform where community voices are visible and heard. Here, we don't speak for communities, we speak with them.
By drawing on the power of sport and the commitment of champions, this initiative demonstrates that promises can be turned into concrete actions, particularly in the fight against malaria and for the health of communities.
I leave Rabat with an even stronger conviction: empowering women means investing in sustainable leadership based on experience, legitimacy, and the capacity for transformation within communities.
With them, the last mile finally becomes achievable.
Every year on October 11, International Day of the Girl Child, we are reminded that the promises made to girls often remain suspended between ambition and reality. In a world where equality policies abound but struggle to transform daily life, two organizations supported by the Voix EssentiELLEs initiative, the Réseau des Jeunes pour la Promotion de l'Abandon des Mutilations Génitales Féminines et des Mariages d'Enfants (RJPA-MGF-ME) in Senegal and the Groupe de Jeunes Filles et Femmes Autonomes (GJFA-ONG) in Benin offer an inspiring counter-narrative: that of local empowerment, led by girls, for girls.
In Sédhiou, the facts speak for themselves: a girl is twice as likely to drop out of secondary school as a boy. Behind these statistics lie faces, stories and unfulfilled dreams. In addition to education, there are also the heartbreaking testimonies received by the Youth Network, highlighting in their stories the obstacles they face, especially in terms of female circumcision and early marriage. The Youth Network was born of this urgency, of this desire to no longer leave girls on the sidelines of decisions that concern them.
The main problem that the Youth Network is trying to solve is the fight against excision and child marriage, which constitutes a violation of their fundamental rights. Its members have not only decided to "raise awareness": they have chosen to transfer power. Girls are encouraged to become ambassadors for the fight against GBV in their schools and communities. They co-facilitate workshops, take part in digital campaigns and design local actions as part of the organization's advocacy work.
This reversal of approach changed everything. Indeed, with the involvement of young girls, the project is more relevant and anchored in reality. Thanks to their ideas and feedback, the Youth Network has been able to adapt its activities to the real needs of its targets. In addition, the girls' involvement has led to greater buy-in and mobilization, indirectly reaching potential beneficiaries.
The network has seen the emergence of a generation of young women who are more confident, more vocal, able to dialogue with local authorities and influence the establishment of community listening spaces to prevent harassment. This evolution represents a real transformation in the relationship to power.
At the time, she was completely unaware of what to do in the event of rape, or of any referral structures. By taking part in the activities organized by the Youth Network, she was able to acquire valuable knowledge about care and support for survivors. Today, she uses her voice to prevent, support and empower young girls in her community.
This individual shift, from silent victim to agent of change, illustrates the power of locally-rooted, human-rights-based approaches that value young girls' own appropriation of challenges and formulation of solutions. Young girls are transformed from mere beneficiaries into agents of change and advocates in defense of their rights.
On the other side of the continent, in Benin, the Groupe de Jeunes Filles et Femmes Autonomes (GJFA-ONG) demonstrates that economic emancipation and leadership are deeply connected. The organization places young girls at the heart of all its actions, not as beneficiaries, but as co-creators and agents of community change.
They take part in project design, formulate their own priorities for action and decide on the strategies to be adopted on issues as crucial as gender-based violence, sexual and reproductive health and local accountability. These participatory spaces have transformed the posture of these girls, who are now able to engage in dialogue with decision-makers.
In the communes of Bopa and Houéyogbé, girls' advocacy has led to the inclusion of budget lines dedicated to the fight against GBV and the promotion of girls' health and rights. This is a major step forward, demonstrating that their voice no longer stops at awareness-raising workshops, but is echoed in local public policies.
Young beneficiaries taking part in an advocacy message workshop
The story of Dorcas Megbehou embodies this evolution. Initially a participant in GJFA activities, she was mentored into entrepreneurship in market gardening and animal husbandry to generate income to pursue her studies. Today, she is an independent entrepreneur, mentor and spokesperson for other girls in her commune. Her story sums up the organization's philosophy: the achievement of financial autonomy as a springboard to political empowerment and legitimacy.
Today, these young girls are no longer content to simply demand their rights, they are negotiating, influencing and redefining the rules of the game within their communities. Their presence at communal meetings, their involvement in GBV/SSRD consultation frameworks, and their local advocacy campaigns bear witness to one thing: female leadership is no longer an abstract concept, but a tangible political reality, being built from the ground up.
What these two organizations show is that lasting transformations come not from global declarations, but from the ability to localize the ambition of women's leadership to meet the challenges of improving their condition. Global debates on gender equality speak of participation, resilience and economic empowerment. Their application on the ground comes to life when a girl dares to denounce a forced marriage, or when another obtains a microcredit to finance her business.
By integrating girls into design, implementation and advocacy, these initiatives illustrate a change of scale: from an approach "for girls" to one "by girls". This change, although local, is part of a global reflection on the relocation of power in development. It responds to repeated calls for international aid to be more feminist, more rooted in community dynamics, where local knowledge and priorities dictate solutions.
As we celebrate International Day of the Girl, we must not only remember their rights, but listen to their voices, understand their strategies, and above all, give them a lasting place in the governance of change. Because Africa's future will not be built for girls, but with them.