Buenos días,

Last month I had the privilege of traveling with some of my Center for Reproductive Rights colleagues to Kigali, Rwanda for the Women Deliver Conference. At this leading international gender equity conference, we highlighted the Center's global work to advance sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) as fundamental human rights.

More than 6,000 women's rights advocates showed up in Kigali, and 200,000 more participated online. This massive turnout underscored how much momentum there is globally to address issues that advance gender equality and improve the lives of women and girls.

I had the opportunity to lead a session called, "Abortion Progress Around the World" where we discussed the feminist organizations and coalitions working to destigmatize abortion and galvanize support for gender equality. I was truly inspired by the reproductive rights leaders from Colombia, México, Nepal and Uganda who joined that conversation.

Through this rich discussion, we were able to showcase strategies we are using to guarantee access to abortion on four different continents. The Global South is bringing ingenuity to the fight for abortion rights by combining mobilization, communications, and movement-building efforts with work to change laws.

It is important that we create our own spaces between the Global South to strategize and learn from each other. It is also important to position the Global South's knowledge and lessons learned for the Global North to implement.

For me, some highlights from the week included engaging with such a big crowd of activists from around the world and being able to share and profile advances from the Global South. As well as proudly celebrating the green wave—the movement for abortion rights that is sweeping across Latin America—with so many leaders and advocates who proudly displayed our green bandanas.

I'm so proud to represent the Center on a global stage and share the impact of the work we do every day, and I invite you to read more about the conference and our time there.

The momentum of the conference will continue to move the fight for reproductive rights forward. Thank you for your support in making this work possible.

Un fuerte abrazo,

Catalina Martínez
Senior Regional Director, Latin America and Caribbean