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The energy at the 12th Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD-12) reached a turning point during our side event, hosted in partnership with the SDGs Kenya Forum, The Women’s Major Group and Zamara Foundation, dedicated to a fundamental shift in Africa’s development: “Financing Care, Powering Equality – Feminist and Youth-led Pathways for Africa SDG Progress.”

The session opened with a powerful call to ownership by Muthoki Nzioka, Policy and Advocacy Officer at FEMNET.

“The SDGs were not designed to sit beautifully in documents, but to improve livelihoods and build societies where people have dignified work, justice, and care. ARFSD is our kikao as Africans—a space to look honestly into our own house, learn where we have fallen short, and design solutions that make sense for our realities. Let this not just be a side event, but a meaningful contribution to carrying forward a more feminist, people-centered, and accountable vision for sustainable development in Africa.”

A Global and Regional Powerhouse Panel

To answer the central question of how to move from promise to lived reality, a diverse panel of experts took the stage:

  • Adam Lupel: Executive Director of the Coalition for the UN We Need (C4UN).

  • Dr. Emmanuel Marfo: Director of Climate Parliament for West and Central Africa and former MP from Ghana.

  • Hon. Saida James: Member of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA).

  • Hellen Apilla: Program Lead at the SDGs Kenya Forum.

  • Eunice Ngina: Vice Chair of the META National Steering Committee-EU Kenya.

  • Blessing Igwe: Acting Head of Programmes at Education as a Vaccine.

  • Carole Osero-Ageng’o: Multilingual feminist human rights lawyer and FEMNET Treasurer.

The Reality of Implementation: Tools and Lawmakers

The discussion quickly moved to the structural barriers facing the continent. Adam Lupel delivered a sobering reminder that policy alone is insufficient:

“The implementation of the SDGs is not a matter of lack of will, but a lack of way. Implementation without direct access to the necessary tools, financial resources, and reform of the global architecture will simply not work.”

This lack of “way” often stems from a gap between international policy and national legislation. Dr. Emmanuel Marfo emphasized that lawmakers are the essential link in the financing chain:

“To turn policy into practice, we need the guardians of the law at the table. Parliamentarians are the bridge between the people’s needs and the continent’s progress; without their involvement in budgeting and oversight, our SDG targets remain purely theoretical.”

Eunice Ngina further challenged the room to reflect on the role of the next generation, questioning whether youth are meaningfully engaged in designing these financing models or merely treated as passive beneficiaries.

The Data: Gender Budgeting in the Kenyan Context

The conversation was grounded by Hellen Apilla, from the SDGs Kenya Forum, who shed light on a Gender Budget Analysis conducted under the EU-META Initiative. The study assessed 37 national MDAs and 12 counties in Kenya, mapping findings directly to the SDGs under review at ARFSD-12. Her intervention highlighted the high stakes of “gender-blind” fiscal policy:

“When we cut water budgets without gender safeguards, we invisibly transfer the burden of water scarcity onto women’s backs. A clean energy transition that leaves women in the dark—literally and economically—is not a just transition. The digital economy will either close or widen the gender gap; that is a policy choice, and right now, we are choosing the wrong path. You cannot build sustainable cities if half the residents—women, informal workers, and girls—are invisible in the budget.”

The Path Forward: Intersectionality and Accountability

A recurring theme throughout the discussions was the urgent need for intersectionality. Participants emphasized that “Financing Care” must account for the unique barriers faced by Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), who exist at the intersection of youth and gender but are often invisible in budget frameworks.

To turn this grassroots knowledge into national law, the panel proposed a Knowledge-to-Policy Pipeline. By bridging the gap between activists and academia, researchers can provide the evidence-based data that lawmakers need to draft transformative legislation.

As the session concluded, the consensus was clear: Africa must move toward Domestic Resource Mobilization and away from donor dependency. By prioritizing intersectional, youth-friendly financing, the continent can transform the care economy from an invisible burden into a powered engine for equality.