«Essential, Not Optional» — 2026 Call to Action
May 28 — the International Day of Action for Women’s Health — in 2026 takes place under the theme «Essential, Not Optional: Strengthening Health Systems to Uphold Health Rights and SRHR in Times of Polycrisis». This slogan is a direct response to the reality faced by millions of women worldwide, including those in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) region.
The 2026 Call to Action is a co-created document developed by more than 100 organizations from Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Eurasia, and Latin America and the Caribbean. It is the result of a multi-stage consultation process that brought together the voices of activists, networks, and social justice movements. The global campaign is coordinated by the Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights (WGNRR).
Why Does This Matter Right Now?
Every day, more than 700 women die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. With just four years remaining until 2030, the world continues to fall short of the Sustainable Development Goals — particularly on health (SDG 3), gender equality (SDG 5), and reduced inequalities (SDG 10).
The authors of this document introduce the concept of polycrisis — the entanglement of multiple interconnected crises: climate change, economic instability, armed conflict, rising authoritarianism, shrinking civic space, and pandemics. Each is destructive on its own. Together, they compound one another, further weakening health systems and cutting women off from essential services.
What Does the Call to Action Demand?
Addressing governments, the authors call for the building of non-discriminatory, accessible health systems where no one is left behind — regardless of gender, sexual orientation, citizenship, health status, or socioeconomic position. They emphasize the urgent need to dismantle structural barriers to care — stigma, administrative requirements, and coercive practices — and to integrate SRHR into humanitarian and climate response frameworks.
The document also demands an end to austerity-driven health policies and to the persistent pattern of treating investment in health and education as an afterthought.
To donors and funders, the call is clear: provide flexible, long-term, and direct funding for feminist, youth-led, and community-based organizations — those working with marginalized communities in conditions of polycrisis, who are themselves among the most vulnerable.
EWNA’s Position
EWNA continues its «Women’s Health Matters!» campaign and affirms: the right to health is not a privilege. It is a fundamental human right. This year, the 2026 Call to Action serves as an indictment of systems that continue to treat women’s health as something secondary — essential, not optional.
As pressure on civil society intensifies across the EECA region, funding shrinks, and the space for non-governmental organizations narrows, solidarity remains our most powerful tool for coming together. We keep speaking. We keep acting.