Last week, Melbourne hosted the world’s largest gender equality conference, Women Deliver, for the first time ever in the Oceanic‑Pacific region. From Monday 27 April to Thursday 30 April, more than 6,000 delegates from 189 countries came together to share ideas, challenge systems and re‑imagine a more equal world.
For CARE, Women Deliver was a powerful opportunity to connect with peers, donors, partners and governments, and to amplify the work we do alongside women and girls every day, across the Oceanic‑Pacific and around the world, to advance gender equality.
CARE’s delegation included more than 30 people, with staff travelling from country offices across Asia‑Pacific, including Timor‑Leste, Vanuatu, PNG, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Indonesia and the Philippines, as well as colleagues from CARE partner organisations, the Talitha Project in Tonga and NDFSI in the Solomon Islands. We were also joined by CARE colleagues from Zambia, Kenya and CARE US. Together, they brought decades of experience, insight, culture and lived knowledge, as well as stories that too often go unheard.
The conference opened on Monday with a moving Welcome to Country from Aunty Di, followed by opening remarks from the Honourable Julia Gillard and other global leaders. Later that day, CARE Indonesia hosted a panel on ‘Women Leading Climate Justice’, sharing the lived experience of a grassroots woman leader from a coastal village in Indonesia (a reminder that climate leadership is already happening at community level).
On Wednesday morning, CARE Australia’s Athena Nguyen joined CARE US’s Esther Watts on a panel exploring the links between gender, climate and nutrition in South‑East Asia and the Pacific. That evening, the CARE Zambia team led a session on ‘Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights for adolescents and young people’, spotlighting the urgency of youth‑centred, rights‑based approaches.
Thursday was a chance to lift up the voices of our partner organisations. Ana Tangitau from the Talitha Project took part in a discussion on ‘Pacific Young Women Shifting Power for Humanitarian and Climate Action’. Ellena Kelly also spoke at CARE partner P&G’s booth, representing the voices and perspectives of Gen Z women.
The conference closed with a vibrant ceremony on Thursday evening. What stays with us most, however, are the people and their stories. Some were difficult to hear, including the testimony of a Rohingya refugee, bringing into sharp focus CARE’s work alongside refugees in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. It’s confronting to sit with the scale of injustice women face globally, much of it unseen. CARE isn’t here to save the world. We’re here to stand with women and girls, backing their leadership as they create change for themselves, their families and their communities.
One of the most powerful moments of the week was watching confidence grow. Seeing women who arrived quietly step into their voices. One woman in our delegation from Indonesia had never left her village before, let alone travelled on a plane. By the end of the week, she was speaking in front of an audience and sharing her story with a journalist, with quiet strength and pride. Progress doesn’t always look like bold declarations. Sometimes, it looks like someone finding the confidence to speak.
In a world that can feel increasingly challenging, Women Deliver reaffirmed something fundamental: when we create spaces for connection, women come together, collaborate and lead. They shape a more just, equal and hopeful future. We look forward to continuing this work, and to meeting again in 2029.
Want to contribute? Donate to CARE Australia today, or find more ways to give and support our humanitarians worldwide.
