FUEL HER FUTURE
Written by: Kayaga Mariana
International Women’s Day is more than a ceremonial celebration. It is a moment of collective reckoning and for us to take a pause, to reflect and imagine boldly the kind of future we want to inhabit. Across generations, women have built and protected spaces that hold movements together. Spaces of warmth in the face of exclusion. Spaces of safety in the midst of uncertainty. Spaces of solidarity where ideas are born, leadership is nurtured and courage is restored. These spaces are not accidental; they are intentional and essential. Without them, movements weaken, voices fade, and progress stalls.
This year’s global theme invites us to rethink how such spaces come into being and how they endure. At its core, the theme reminds us that investing in women and girls is not charity, sacrifice, or loss. It is a collective gain. When societies give women equal access to resources, opportunities, and decision-making power, everyone benefits: families are healthier, economies stronger, governance more inclusive, and communities more peaceful.
Giving, in this sense, is expansive. It is not only financial. It is the giving of time, care, mentorship, platforms, policies, space, education, leadership, and solidarity. It is also the willingness to give up what limits others silence in the face of injustice, unequal systems, hoarded power, and unexamined privilege.
At FOWODE, our work has always been grounded in the belief that women’s rights, leadership, and collective organizing are essential to democratic and inclusive development. That belief extends beyond programs and policies into the kinds of spaces we create that allow movements to grow, regenerate, and imagine forward.
It is within this vision that the Imara Women’s Centre takes shape as FOWODE’s contribution to strengthening the women’s movement and ensuring its long-term sustainability. Designed as a sustainability social enterprise, Imara exists to provide feminist organizing with a permanent and nurturing home. It is a space where generations will come together, where leadership is intentionally cultivated, and where women’s voices are not only heard, but valued, protected, and supported to grow.
Imara is not the beginning of the story it is part of its continuation. A response to the understanding that movements need infrastructure, care, and long-term investment to survive and thrive.
As we mark this International Women’s Day, let us commit individually and collectively to giving what the future demands of us. Let us share our resources, shift unequal systems and release what holds others back. Let us act so that more women and girls can rise, lead and thrive.
The writer is the IMARA Personal Assistant at Forum for Women in Democracy
