Women Deliver 2026 Conference (WD2026) has officially commenced in Narrm, Melbourne, with a resounding call to fundamentally rebalance how the world delivers gender equality. The conference, which opened today, places the forthcoming Melbourne Declaration for Gender Equality at its core. This declaration, shaped through global consultation, is being launched as a shared political commitment to center States' human rights obligations, public accountability, and the leadership of national and local civil society and feminist movements.
Global Gathering in Times of Crisis
WD2026 brings together political leaders, activists, advocates, funders, journalists, and young people from across the globe at a time of rising conflict, shrinking civic space, mounting pressure on women's rights, and growing questions about whether current systems are serving the people they are meant to. Grounded in the leadership of First Nations communities and the Oceanic Pacific, the theme "Change Calls Us Here" signals a conference shaped by truth-telling, local leadership, and a determination to move beyond conversation to accountability, solidarity, and action.
CEO's Urgent Message
Setting the scene for four days of urgent discussion, Women Deliver CEO Maliha Khan stated, "The system that housed our victories created a model of dependency, making millions reliant on donors and organisations headquartered thousands of miles away rather than building the conditions for States to be held accountable to the people. Much of the gender equality ecosystem became defanged politically, led by donor priorities, and kept power with former colonizing powers. When sustained opposition arrived, the institutional architecture fell apart."
Khan emphasized that the conference is not a moment for mourning. "We have secured the impossible before, and we will do it again. We choose courage over caution, solidarity over spectacle, and joy over despair."
Hosted in Oceanic Pacific for First Time
Hosted for the first time in the Oceanic Pacific, WD2026 marks a shift in whose voices are centered at the world's largest gatherings for gender equality. Victorian Minister for Women and Girls, The Hon Gabrielle Williams, expressed pride in hosting Women Deliver on behalf of the Oceanic Pacific, putting the region at the heart of one of the world's largest conversations about women and girls.
"Progress for women and girls isn't guaranteed. It has to be fought for, built and protected. Bringing world leaders together like this is how we keep moving forward. We have a lot to learn from leaders and advocates from around the world and a lot to share as well so we can get on with the job of delivering a better future for women and girls," said Minister Williams.
The Melbourne Declaration
The Melbourne Declaration will be formally launched at the close of the conference, marking a shared commitment across the wider gender equality ecosystem to rebalance power, resources, and accountability so that States uphold human rights, feminist movements and civil society can hold them to account, and international actors support rather than substitute for locally led change.
In closing, Khan urged: "What we're asking of you all is to make this moment of crisis a moment of possibility. The Melbourne Declaration is a shared commitment to rebuild a gender equality ecosystem too often shaped by donor priorities and weak accountability to people and to root what comes next in human rights, solidarity, and the leadership of those most affected by injustice."
