16/06/2026
As thousands gathered in Narrm (Melbourne), Australia for , we could not help but think of the women and girls who cannot step foot in spaces like this — where thought leadership thrives, organizers connect, and movement solidarity grows.
Around the world, women human rights defenders, community leaders, educators, journalists, students, girls who haven’t yet gotten the option to dream as big yet, face a violence that denies them the chance to participate.
There are bans on women and girl’s participation in education and public life enforced by the Taliban. Community leaders like Yanar Mohammed and Berta Caceres have been assassinated for their advocacy calling on a better world. Police violence taking the lives of women like Sandra Bland and young girls like Aiyana Stanley-Jones. Systemic barriers that limit travel, like the United States’ visa restrictions leave communities wary of risking their livelihoods to participate.
The list is long, but these are the voices that are missing in these rooms.
Together, MADRE and Chalk Back made sure to carry these names with us at Women Deliver, where thousands of women and girls are discussing ways forward. We cannot move toward progress without remembering those who have not had the opportunity to join us; who advocate yet have limited resources; who we’ve lost to violence; whose perspectives need to be amplified in rooms they cannot reach. Solidarity means carrying them with us.
