Post by Conrad N. Hilton Foundation

Young mothers were front and center at the Women Deliver 2026 session we co-created with the Young Mothers Consortium. Through short films, dialogue and creative expression grounded in their own lived experiences, the session offered an intimate portrait of adolescent motherhood—showing that these young women are not victims of circumstance, but powerful agents of change for themselves, their families and their communities. Program Officer of our Early Childhood Development initiative, Katie Januario, joined fireside conversations with our consortium partners, Children's Rights and Violence Prevention Fund (CRVPF), Children's Rights Innovation Fund (CRIF), Purposeful, IRIS (International Resource for Impact and Storytelling) and International Center for Research on Women (ICRW). They explored how collective approaches such as safe spaces, savings groups, participatory grantmaking and storytelling are shifting harmful norms and strengthening community-based care. At the heart of this work is the importance of listening to young mothers and advocates to drive meaningful change. In a new blog, Salmah Babu—Regional Coordinator of the Adolescent Girls Power Program at the Children’s Rights and Violence Prevention Fund—draws on her personal experiences to explain what drives her advocacy to break cycles of early marriage and childbearing. The piece was edited by Katherine King at RTI International. Read her reflections here: https://lnkd.in/gAN5T7rQ