She began her speech by offering moments of silence for women who have lost their lives due to childbirth, preventable diseases, and HIV/AIDS. She also acknowledged the commitment of women human rights defenders who have chosen to speak out despite personal pains and difficult contexts. She also congratulated the women's movement for being grounded the basic premises of solidarity and social transformation. Within the context of these achievements she drew attention to the fact that women’s realities are diverse, yet these diversities is to be respected without compromising women's rights in the private and public sphere. 

Violet Shivustse spoke of her experiences in dealing with two major problems in Kenya since the 1990s, and these were: maternal deaths and HIV/AIDS. She talked about the strength of collective action and how women rallied together to seek support for training in maternal health care and support for people who are ill. This has resulted to a decrease in the number of sick people occupying beds in the hospitals, as more women gain the confidence to care for the sick at home. She likewise shared the challenges they have yet to face and the perspective of how HIV/AIDS is viewed. She reiterates that in order to address HIV/AIDS, it should be seen as a broader issue of development rather than just health issue, and too look into many underlying factors that contribute to perceptions about HIV/AIDS that many people are not aware of.