Agenda Alliance works with our Women's Advisory Network (WAN) to support and guide us in our mission to improve systems for women facing multiple unmet needs and campaign for change. They are a group of women with lived experience of multiple unmet needs, who meet with each other and members of our team every two months. Together, they have developed the following charter to communicate their vision for the WAN.
Our 2024 Charter
In 2024, Agenda Alliance's Women's Advisory Network (WAN) is ready to make a difference.
As a group, we want to examine and share our perspectives on the following topics:
- The isolation that women with multiple unmet needs face when they’re excluded and rejected from services.
- Ways of ending the “cycle of harm” so that other women don’t have to experience what we’ve been through. We want to stop younger generations from needless trauma and harm.
- The impact of not accessing mental health support when you need it - either because you’re “not eligible” or because you’re kept on waiting lists for months and months.
Agenda Alliance's Women's Advisory Network made this video for International Women's Day 2024, responding to the theme of #InspireInclusion.
Lucy“Research is often done by people without any experience of what they’re looking at… I’ve felt powerless, like I don’t have any voice. I have things that I would like to bring to the table: I’ve been treated badly by services and had lots of labels put on me. I know what needs to change.”
As a group, we want to achieve change by:
- Embracing our creativity
- Sharing our stories to make a change
- Making people in power listen to us
We believe that our voices matter:
Haley“Even though I might not always have realized, I’ve had a voice all along. Certain people weren’t listening.”
We want to be part of the WAN because:
Haley“Even though I might not always have realized, I’ve had a voice all along. Certain people weren’t listening.”
Laila“There is no secondary support or aftercare if you experience trauma again in your life, or relapse. You are left to “manage” PTSD on your own. Services don’t have the capacity to help you anymore. So, you’re left in limbo. You can’t work and you end up in financial hardship. It’s a vicious cycle and I’m tired."
Haley“We’re trying to pave the way, to find ways of looking out for the younger generation so that there’s early intervention and prevention.”
Sarah“Being part of a group makes it easier to share. Sharing things you’ve been through is hard. It’s easier to know that you’re not alone in this, even though I used to feel like I was.”
Rebecca“I’ve been on a waiting list for months and months. It has such an impact – people need to know what that does.”
We will work according to our values:
We listen to one another with respect
Sarah“Because of the situations we’ve been in, we often haven’t been listened to. We need to make this change.”
We're supportive of one another
Nici“We’ll hold space for each other”
Leila“We’ll decide what we’ll do for self-care at the end of every meeting.”
We’re a sisterhood
Haley“We champion each other. We build each other up. We’re each other’s props.”
Rebecca“It’s important to remember that I’m not the only person going through trauma. That really resonates.”
We’re all different and we embrace that
Sarah“We’ve all had different experiences. We’ve got our own individual needs and experiences. We might come from different backgrounds and we want to bring that.”
Lucy"There’s lots of disparity about what people have access to. It’s not the same across the country."
Leila“I’ve had a negative experience where I got stereotyped because of my religion… people made assumptions. I don’t want us to make judgements on each other.”
We’re accessible
Nici“We want to use language everyone can understand. No question is a silly question.”
Leila“When it comes to sharing your story, there’s no right way of doing it. It’s got to be right for you.”