CNS

SHE & Rights | Navigating the Bleeding Edge: Period Poverty and Reproductive Health in the Poly-crisis

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Welcome to special SHE & Rights session to mark 28th May - Menstrual Hygiene Day as well as the International Day of Action for Women's Health.

An important Declaration endorsed by over 1500 experts has called upon Indonesia to ratify the lifesaving global tobacco treaty and hold tobacco and nicotine industries liable. The declaration also calls for implementing several other proven measures to protect its children and people from deadly tobacco and nicotine products.

We are living in an age of ageing with a fast-growing number of older people. Life expectancy has increased significantly over the past years. Japan has nearly 100,000 people aged 100 or older - the highest in the world, with women comprising roughly 88% of this population. By 2050 the population of persons above 60 years of age is projected to grow to 2.1 billion (nearly one fifth of the total global population).

The common phrase 'good girls take care of family' reflects a deeply ingrained social expectation, often referred to as 'Good Girl Syndrome,' where girls and women are expected to be nurturers, compliant, and prioritise others' needs over their own. This often translates to handling household burdens, emotional labour, and caregiving to ensure family stability.

In the lead-up to one of the most significant global health gatherings of 2026, the Global Media Briefing on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) offered a sobering and urgent reminder: the world is not just facing a future threat - it is already living through a largely invisible crisis that continues to claim millions of lives.

In Women Deliver Conference 2026 (WD2026) - largest gathering on gender equality this year, before the first plenary had even begun, a quieter but deeply urgent conversation unfolded in the Media Lounge - one that set the tone for everything that followed. Framed as a fireside chat, “Reclaiming the Narrative: Media, SRHR and Feminist Storytelling” brought together advocates, communicators, and frontline health workers to confront a pressing question: who gets to tell stories about bodies, rights, and health - and what happens when those stories are taken out of the hands of those who live them?

In Women Deliver Conference 2026 - largest gathering on gender equality this year - a panel of transgender rights leaders and advocates from across Asia and the Pacific came together to speak about a reality that is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore: the intensifying global backlash against transgender rights, and the deeply personal toll it is taking on communities already pushed to the margins. What emerged from the discussion was not just a policy conversation, but a powerful reminder that behind every law, every statistic, and every debate are people whose lives cannot - and should not - be reduced to categories, labels, or data points.

In Women Deliver Conference 2026 - largest gathering on gender equality this year - a conversation unfolded that was as urgent as it was deeply contested: abortion rights are human rights. Framed within the broader agenda of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), this SHE & Rights session brought together activists, media voices, and advocates who are working across vastly different political and cultural landscapes. Yet despite these differences, what united them was a shared insistence that abortion is not merely a policy issue or a moral debate—it is fundamentally about dignity, autonomy, and the right to decide over one’s own body.

In Women Deliver Conference 2026, a session unfolded with a title that felt less like a discussion and more like a deadline: "56 months left to end female genital mutilation/ cutting (FGM/C): Are we on track?" The urgency was unmistakable. Female genital mutilation/ cutting (FGM/C), a practice internationally recognised as a violation of human rights, remains deeply embedded in social, cultural, and structural systems across parts of the world. Yet what this session made clear is that the question is not only whether the world is on track to end it - but whether the world is truly listening to those most affected, and whether the strategies in place are grounded in their lived realities.

The 2026 Women Deliver Conference brought together more than 6,500 advocates, researchers, policy makers and donors all committed to advancing women’s human rights. But what if there was a key strategy that has been instrumental in advancing women’s human rights but largely missing from the conference?

Despite growing backlash against women’s rights and feminist movements globally, it gives hope to see that the world’s largest gathering on gender equality this year – Women Deliver Conference 2026 - was attended by around 6000 people from 189 countries globally. The city that hosted this meet - Narrm or Melbourne in Australia - has an inspiring history of resistance which runs through its lands and waters, carried by generations of First Nations (indigenous) leaders, feminists, and activists who have fought for justice, self-determination, and collective care.

SHE & Rights Media Awards Ceremony 2026 - Women Deliver Conference 2026 #WD2026

[video] Reclaiming the Narrative: Media, SHR and Feminist Storytelling | Fireside chat at Women Deliver Conference 2026

[video] Reflections from Women Deliver Conference 2026 and way forward to deliver on SDG-5 and SDG-3 by 2030

[video] Transgender rights in anti-rights era

[video] Ending AIDS in anti-rights and anti-gender era

[video] 56 months left to end FGM/C: Are we on track?

[video] Centring breast and cervical cancer prevention and care in gender justice, rights and evidence

[video] Gender sensitive local actions are critical for reducing NCDs and ending TB, tobacco use

[video] Abortion rights are human rights

[video] Legally binding treaty for development justice for older persons

[video] Drug resistance or Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) under gender lens | Women Deliver Conference 2026

[video] Know more about 9th RHNK Pan African Adolescents and Youth SRHR Conference 2026 and SVRI Forum 2026

[video] Cook Islands in the Pacific: Sexual and reproductive health, rights and justice

[video] Are gender equality and right to health taking primacy in development?

SHE & Rights LIVE #WD2026: Session 15: Equitable access for youth to sexual, reproductive and mental health: Rethinking funding towards integrated models

SHE & Rights LIVE at the Women Deliver Conference 2026 - sessions are being hosted at D03 Exhibition Space in Narrm (Melbourne), Australia. All sessions are hybrid, live-streamed and host online and onsite speakers and participants including media.

SHE & Rights | Navigating the Bleeding Edge: Period Poverty and Reproductive Health in the Poly-crisis

Click here to register

Declaration calls on Indonesia to ratify global treaty and hold nicotine and tobacco industry liable

The invisible must get served first by legally binding treaty for older persons

Good girls first take care of themselves before they may choose to be carers for others

Can next month's global AMR ministerial meet in Nigeria turn the tide?

Reclaiming the narrative: Media, sexual health and bodily autonomy, and feminist storytelling

Transgender rights in anti-rights era

Abortion rights are human rights

56 months left to end female genital mutilation/ cutting: Are we on track?

Is progressive and feminist trade unionism largely missing from Women Deliver 2026?

Turning development justice analysis into collective actions

SHE & Rights Media Awards Ceremony 2026 - Women Deliver Conference 2026 #WD2026

[video] Equitable access for youth to sexual, reproductive and mental health: Rethinking funding, integration