Press Releases

27 March 2024 The 68th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), the mainintergovernmental body dedicated to gender equality, came to a close on Friday, 22 March2024.The Women’s Rights Caucus (WRC)—a global intersectional feminist coalition of more than 400organizations, networks, and individuals that advocates for gender equality at the UnitedNations—welcomes […]

30 November 2023 We are excited to announce that we will be attending ICASA 2023 in Harare, Zimbabwe from the 4th – 9th of December! Women’s Networking Zone We will be co-hosting the Women’s Networking Zone alongside other feminist and women’s rights organisations. The Women’s Networking Zone is a space hosted and convened at global

ATHENA Network is pleased to announce a call for applications for our #WhatGirlsWant Program Country Focal Points from Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Ghana, and Cameroon. We are a feminist organization working at the intersection of HIV, sexual and reproductive health and rights, gender-based violence, and gender equality. We are also dedicated to promoting

BACKGROUND The AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa (ARASA) was established in 2002 to galvanize a movement of progressive civil society actors to advance a human rights-based response to HIV in southern Africa. The implementation of ARASA’s Strategy for 2019-22 was anchored in the core principle of respect for and protection of the rights

ATHENA was created to advance gender equity and human rights at the intersection of HIV, women’s rights, SRHR, and GBV. Formally launched in 2005, ATHENA plays a policy formulation, capacity-building and network-convening role, working with partners at the national and regional level.  ATHENA recognises that only when women and girls in all their diversity can know,

We’re growing, expanding and scaling new heights in our feminist leadership journey! We are excited to announce our new Executive Director Olaoluwa (Ola) Abagun. Olaoluwa Abagun, affectionately known as Ola, is a lawyer, an unapologetic feminist, and an ardent believer in youth-led change making. She has a Masters in Gender and Development from the Institute of Development Studies

Executive Director Job Description Background ATHENA Network is seeking to recruit an Executive Director to lead the network into the next chapter. ATHENA’s aim is to advance gender equality and human rights through global health to realize a world where women in all of their diversity have the power, choice, and agency to make and

We are delighted to share with you our article, published in the journal Agenda: Empowering women for gender equality. The article explores accountability mechanisms and presents our #WhatWomenWant work to promote new tools and methods for achieving accountability. View the full article here.

As a network, we are excited to announce the ATHENA’s adolescent girls and young women’s governance board. We firmly believe that adolescent girls and young women are experts on their own lives, and therefore, their active participation should be at the center of our work and governance as we work towards fashioning sustainable changes to ensure that

Now, more than any other time in human existence we must focus on the health and well-being of Adolescent girls and Young Women (AGYW). AGYW constitute the world’s biggest population group and continue to disproportionately be affected by HIV in comparison to other populations. Adolescent girls and young women in the African region where I am

Today, ATHENA is pleased to announce a new project in Zimbabwe, in partnership with the International HIV/AIDS Alliance and Zimbabwe Young Positives. READY to Lead is an exciting young women’s leadership project in Zimbabwe, funded by Comic Relief.  Through READY to Lead, young women will hone their leadership skills via training and mentorship. They will learn how

On International Women’s Day 2018 (#IWD2018), #WhatWomen and #WhatGirlsWant is: Accountability to ensure that gender equality commitments are translated into sustained and meaningful change Consultation to put women and girls at the center of policies, programmes, research, strategies, and initiatives  Action to include the leadership of women and girls to support the implementation of commitments made by governments and other duty bearers to advance the health and rights of women and

ATHENA is excited to launch the LEARN project: Young Women Lead, Evidence, Advocate, Research, Network (LEARN): what does PrEP mean for young women?  Young Women LEARN is a two-year project, funded by the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief as part of the DREAMS Innovation Challenge, managed by JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. It will combine