Our Gender Advisors Joke Manders, Camilo Antillon and Mariam Charara Ruiz were in Kenya beginning of July to take part in the Young Women for Awareness, Agency, Advocacy and Accountability (YW4A) Regional Impact Symposium. They sent us their dispatch from Mombasa.

After five years of implementation (2021–2025) across Egypt, Kenya, Palestine and South Sudan, the Regional Impact Symposium in Mombasa marked a crucial moment for reflection and closure with key partners and actors from Kenya and South Sudan. Due to the ongoing conflicts in the MENA region, the partners from Egypt and Palestine were unable to participate as originally planned, and instead of a global symposium, it became a regional one. The MENA symposium has now been planned to take place at the beginning of September. Here, you can find the highlights of the Africa symposium.

The East Africa focused Regional Impact Symposium brought together key learnings and achievements shaped by a shared commitment to advancing young women’s empowerment and promoting their rights. Co-hosted by YWCA Kenya and World YWCA, the gathering provided a platform for YW4A consortium partners, women’s rights organisations (WROs), faith-based organisations (FBOs) and leaders, and especially young women, to highlight the lasting and sustainable outcomes of their efforts, many of which will continue to thrive beyond the lifespan of the programme.

In our capacity as technical partners in YW4A, KIT Institute led the design and implementation of gender-transformative MEL, capacity assessments, and learning. Working with a young women reference group in each country, we aimed to ensure inclusive, context-driven monitoring of changes in practices and behaviours among WROs, FBOs, state actors, and youth groups. During the Regional Impact Symposium, we took the opportunity to reflect on the progress made across the four YW4A pathways, the key achievements as well as the challenges that remain. Our sessions centred on sensemaking and reflecting on Pathways 1 and 2, along with the overall YW4A Theory of Change.

Collective Reflection and Learning: Advancing Advocacy and Young Women’s Leadership Across Pathways

Each of our sense-making sessions was designed to foster the exchange of ideas and perspectives with partners and key programme actors, allowing us to learn directly from their insights and lived experiences. For Pathway 1, we focused specifically on progress made in strengthening organisations’ advocacy and institutional capacity to amplify young women’s voices and promote their leadership and equal participation in (political) decision-making spaces.  What emerged from the discussions was a shared understanding of the importance of grounding advocacy efforts in young women’s realities, ensuring tools and approaches are accessible and contextually relevant, the importance of coalition building and networking, and exploring ways to sustain and strengthen this work through complementary strategies.

For Pathway 2, we exchanged ideas and experiences regarding the strengthening of young women’s leadership skills and knowledge, and how to translate that into collective action. A key learning was the wide range of ways in which young women trained by and engaged in YW4A (advocacy) interventions have embarked on a lifechanging journey and are using their strengthened leadership capacities, from engaging in advocacy and activism for their rights, to simplifying complex issues for broader community understanding, to mentoring peers and cascading knowledge within their networks. These actions have contributed to shifts at both community and policy levels, highlighting the transformative potential of young women’s leadership when supported through safe spaces, collaboration, and continued capacity strengthening.

Piecing the Puzzle Together: Reflections on the YW4A Theory of Change

The symposium provided a timely opportunity to reflect on the overall journey of the programme and the progress made toward its strategic objectives. With the voices of young women, WROs, and FBOs at the heart of the conversations, it was a space not only to surface key lessons but also to explore how the impact of the programme can be sustained beyond its official close. As one participant powerfully stated, “the end of the YW4A programme doesn’t end the knowledge gained.”

This inspiring week in Kenya highlighted the remarkable strength of young women’s leadership, the indispensable support of allies, from women’s rights organisations to faith-based institutions and the profound power of unity, collaboration, and shared learning. As we look ahead, the emphasis now turns to how the knowledge, partnerships, and momentum built can continue to support the fulfillment of young women’s rights to dignity, bodily integrity, and equal participation in decision-making, through gender-just policies, laws, and practices that endure.

The insights and connections forged at the Regional Impact Symposium stand as a lasting testament to YW4A’s enduring legacy. Although the programme is drawing to a close, its spirit and the knowledge it has cultivated will continue to underpin ongoing efforts by young women and their allies to advance rights, amplify voices, and foster meaningful change for years to come.