What Women Want - A Listening Exercise

What is this project?

The purpose of the project was to gather and amplify the voices of women and girls on what they need for their health, well-being, and self-care beyond reproductive health. More than 24,000 women and girls took part in the listening exercise, which gathered 97,000 responses across 44 counties in Kenya.

It builds on the legacy of the global “What Women Want (WWW) campaign,” launched by the White Ribbon Alliance in 2018 on the International Day for Maternal Health Rights. That campaign gave power and voice back to women and girls, asking them to define what quality reproductive and maternal health care means to them. A resounding call for improved quality of care especially as respectful and dignified treatment in health facilities emerged as the top demand across Kenya and globally. The project uses White Ribbon Alliance’s WRA proven ASK-LISTEN-ACT approach, grounded in its 4Ps framework (People, Practice, Policy, Products), to ensure that health solutions, including diagnostics, are shaped by what women and girls want.

 

Why are we working on it?

Too often, healthcare systems prioritize top-down approaches, resulting in gaps between services offered and what women and girls actually need. This project was launched to directly understand these needs from women themselves, spanning ages 10 to 65+, and use these insights to inform more dignified, equitable, and responsive health interventions including diagnostics, which are frequently overlooked but essential to quality care. By listening to women and girls and translating their perspectives into policy and practice, we aim to address service gaps, influence policy decisions, and drive systemic change that centres their lived experiences.

 

What did the project involve??

The project used a phenomenological approach to collect qualitative data, including:

• Listening sessions and key informant interviews with adolescent girls, young women, and older women across 44 counties in Kenya.
• Capturing their stories and perspectives through digital and multimedia storytelling and supplementing these with a digital survey that eventually collected 97,000 responses.

At the conclusion of the listening exercise, the results are being shared through:

• County forums, community journalism, and a national dialogue forum to share findings and drive policy action.
• A national media campaign to raise awareness and build advocacy momentum.
• Development of a strategic action plan, focused in part on tailored diagnostic services that align with expressed needs.

 

What are the expected outcomes?

• A shared understanding of the health and wellbeing needs of women and girls throughout their lives.
• Identification and documentation of gaps and opportunities in health including diagnostic services.
• Concrete commitments from stakeholders at county and national levels to adopt recommendations and invest in people-centred health services.
• A strategic action plan to guide policy, programmatic, and resource decisions that reflect the self-expressed needs of women and girls.

 

What is the timeline?

This project started in June 2024. Implementation was completed in July 2025, and the final findings and reports are expected to be released in August 2025.

 

Partners and funding

This project was funded by FIND through a grant from the Government of Canada and is implemented by the White Ribbon Alliance Kenya (WRA Kenya) in collaboration with FIND.