Despite growing backlash against women’s rights and feminist movements globally, it gives hope to see that 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 hosts 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.
Melbourne also hosts Asia Pacific regional office of Public
Services International (PSI) – an over a century old global union federation
for workers in public services, including those who working social services,
healthcare, municipal services, central government and public utilities.
Corporatizing care is regressive
Rooted in the work PSI does on women’s rights and feminist
analysis, one of its progressive contributions has been to expose the way in
which care has been corporatized. Social protection is so critical for
advancing women’s rights as well as rights of gender diverse and indigenous
peoples, said Kate Lappin, Regional Secretary of Public Services International
Asia Pacific.
“We do draw on progressive trade union histories that have
shown that the way to achieve change is through trade union power, and quite
frankly, through disruption. We have not gained the rights through ‘quiet
advocacy,’ through just ‘requesting changes’ to law, or even through just deep
analysis. It has really been achieved through our capacity to join analysis
with action,” said Kate Lappin.
Kate was speaking at inaugural session of SHE & Rights
Live at Women Deliver Conference in D03 Exhibition Space, co-hosted by Global
Center for Health Diplomacy and Inclusion (CeHDI), Women Deliver, International
Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), Asian-Pacific Resource and Research
Centre for Women (ARROW), Asia Pacific Media Alliance for Health, Gender and
Development Justice (APCAT Media) and CNS.
Oldest continuously operating trade union building in the
world is in Melbourne
“The oldest continuously operating trade union building in
the world is in Melbourne which celebrates its history - both feminist history
and labour rights history - of being the first place toachieve the eight-hour
day in 1856 – 170 years ago!” said Kate Lappin. Melbourne is also the first
place globally to achieve a living wage.
“It was a sexist living wage at that time, setting a wage
for men and assuming women were dependent on them, but it had established
living wage as a principle. Now, Melbourne is among the firstplaces globally
leading on pay equity so that wages can be increased for workers in the care
sector,” said Kate. Pay equity recognised the devaluation of women’s care work,
not through a male comparative, but through recognising devaluation of majority
of care work done by women historically.
Kate also highlighted the work done by PSI and other trade
unions in Melbourne and state of Victoria, Australia, on paternity leave as
well as looking at reproductive health through lifecycles address needs of
women, non-binary people and men might need in their reproductive lives – such
as accessing in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), menstrual leave, menopausal leave,
among others.
Community health work is work
Presence of PSI at this meeting became more important
because despite historical role of progressive trade unions in advancing
rights, there were hardly any unions onsite.
PSI as a member of the Global Care Alliance amplified the
call to recognise community health work as work.
Kate emphasises on the critical need to collaboratively
build enough power to address global problems and impact change for development
justice. Progressive local movements and social struggles have built people
power. On other hand, there is an unprecedented monopolisation of power which
is concentrating in the hands of a tiny minority – whether that be Big Tech
companies or the billionaires and the governments that serve them. We need
practical ways to disrupt this global power through alliance building. We need
to achieve the level of solidarity – the critical threshold -to achieve system
change.
So-called 'development' projects violating rights,
communities, environment
"Indigenous women, children and LGBTQIA+ communities
alongside Myanmar border area are deeply affected by so-called 'development'
projects and extractive industries," said Matcha Phorn-in, Executive
Director, Sangsan Anakot Yaowachon, and a proud lesbian feminist, woman human
right defenders and trail runner. "We as indigenous communities are
resisting upcoming 'development' projects such as hydro-power dams in river
diversions and rare earth mining operations. Such activities are causing
environmental degradation, water contamination in the river, and human rights
violations, environmental crises, and exacerbating gender inequalities and
injustices."
Countries like Thailand do not recognise indigenous peoples.
"When recognition of indigenous peoples and communities is not there, then
government and development sector fails to implement the most important
principle of free, prior and informed consent," said Matcha.
"Indigenous peoples especially women and gender diverse peoples are not
included in decision-making processes at all levels."
Matcha demands that gender equality and human right to
health must be central to all development policies, investments and projects.
She also called for full recognition of indigenous peoples
and their rights, and implementation of free, prior and informed consent in all
development projects. There must be accountability for human rights violations
and environmental harms caused by these projects and business activities.
Walk the talk on #HealthForAll and #LeavingNoOneBehind
Matcha demands another non-negotiable: an inclusive and
non-discriminatory healthcare system and public services, which must include
full access to gender-affirming care as well as sexual and reproductive health
and right services. We must move beyond symbolism when it comes to legal and
policy reforms so that all people in all their diversities can have full access
to public health services and social protection - in a rights-based manner.
With growing legal and judicial harassments against human
rights defenders, Matcha stressed on the dire need of protecting human rights
defenders, especially women and LGBTQIA+ human rights defenders.
"These development projects must not come at the cost
of our bodies, our land and our dignities," said Matcha.
We demand not just reproductive health but sexual and
reproductive health, rights and justice
"With the current right-wing uproar, we need to
remember that we demand sexual and reproductive health, rights and justice, and
not just reproductive health," said Dr Harjyot Khosa, a gender justice and
global health advocate.
Referring to 70th UN Commission on the Status of Women
convened in March 2026, Dr Harjyot Khosa said: "Regressive States are
attempting to reverse the established and agreed language on bodily autonomy
and human rights."
"We need to stop the use of pseudo-science which is
being used to wrongly justify these rollbacks. We also need to decolonise
development finance. We need to have radical inclusivity," said DrHarjyot
Khosa in SHE & Rights Live from Women Deliver Conference 2026. "We
need to pivot intersectionality."
Dr Harjyot echoed Kate Lappin's call for collective action
powered by progressive social movements and people's struggles: "We need
to have a unified front against the hierarchical oppression that we are facing
today."
