Women Of the World Kigali

What is a WOW Festival?

WOW - Women of the World is a global movement reaching over 5 million people through 100+ festivals across six continents. WOW festivals celebrate the achievements of women and girls, taking a frank look at the obstacles they face and discussing solutions for change.

WOW Kigali

In 2025 the women and girls of Rwanda will be centre-stage with the first-ever WOW Kigali Festival.

In preparation for this, community meetings known as “ThinkIns” are held across the country to identify issues that affect women in the local areas, which will later be used to create the program for the festival. So far, we have held three ThinkIns in three regions, namely: Nyarugenge, Rubavu, and Rwamagana respectively.

More ThinkIns and events are being planned to further engage with local women and create more awareness of the festival and what it stands for.

Jude Kelly CBE is CEO and Founder of The WOW Foundation. She founded WOW to celebrate the achievements of women and girls and confront global gender injustice. Starting as a three-day festival at London’s Southbank Centre in 2010, where Jude was Artistic Director for 12 years, the festival now takes place in 30 locations across six continents.

WOW KIGALI 2025

Jude Kelly

Rwanda

The Republic of Rwanda is a landlocked country in the African Great Lakes region in East Africa. With a population of 13.7 million of which 49.7 % is female, Rwanda is known for being one of the countries that encourages gender inclusiveness and a reflection of the importance of ensuring Sustainable Development Goal 5 on gender equality, with women parliamentarians at 61% in 2021.

The World Economic Forum ranks Rwanda sixth globally and first in Sub-Saharan Africa as a regional and global leader in advancing gender equality and women's empowerment (GEWE).

Jo Pratt

Senior Producer

Jo Pratt has forged a career in the performing arts and media sectors over the past 20 years. With a passion for developing, supporting and encouraging artists in their creativity and pursuit of sustainable career pathways, Jo has extensive experience working from both a community cultural development framework with Indigenous and migrant artists and communities in south east Queensland and targeted career development methodology.

Madhio.I.Diakité

Administrative Officer

Julie Baikie

Intl. Comms & Development Manager

Julie has 35+ years’ project, event management and consultancy experience across tourism, not for profit, social services, arts, social enterprise and profit for purpose business sectors in the UK, Europe, Australia & Hong Kong. Julie was the General Manager of WOW Australia for 5 years.

Madhio is a dynamic professional with four years experience in administration and communications. Her expertise spans office management, social media strategy, content creation, and design. With an appreciation for social justice and equality, Madhio sees every opportunity as a chance to use her skills to help achieve a world that is happy and equal for all. She is always eager to leverage her skills to drive productivity and growth.