On August 19, 2025, I had the opportunity to participate in the Advancing Women’s Health Roundtable as part of the build-up to the upcoming NXT HER Summit hosted by FP 2030 and the Nation Media Foundation. The convening brought together women leaders from various sectors to reflect on the future of women’s health and rights in Kenya, particularly around family planning and maternal care.

Theme:

Mobilising New Champions, New Voices, and New Funding for Locally Driven Family Planning & Maternal Care

Reflections from the room:

1. There is a need for a responsive movement model informed by lessons from other working networks and movements across the globe. I was able to share about the SRHR Alliance, how our networked, joint-action model works and to truly advance SRHR and Family Planning, we must broaden our partnerships beyond the health sector to include media, tech, youth movements, creative industries, and more.

2. We must politicize SRHR and FP. These issues should not remain siloed in civil society. They must become people’s issues, issues that citizens claim, demand, and hold duty bearers accountable for. Only then will they gain priority in political and national agendas.

3. Media is a powerful ally. It doesn’t just reflect reality, it shapes it. Our movements must meaningfully and continuously engage media partners with a solutions-based approach and ensure we co-create the narrative.

4. At a personal level, I reflected on the fact that while the Alliance is youth-led and women-led, we must still cultivate intergenerational alignment. Young people are bursting with bold ideas, and older generations bring wisdom and networks. This partnership is not optional but foundational.

5. The urgency for sustainable, domestic health financing across the African region can no longer be overlooked. We must intentionally align and amplify reproductive health data, document family planning realities from an African perspective, and elevate these insights to the forefront of policy and budget priorities.

Insight Gained: There’s untapped potential as funding allies across different fields; we need to think outside the health field and traditional funders. There is space to creatively position SRHR and FP through angles like dignity, beauty, empowerment, and health equity.

Leading with heart and purpose,
Judy Amina