Save the Date: 28th WAS World Congress Announces Dates and Theme for Cape Town 2027
PRESS RELEASE
[CAPE TOWN, South Africa, October 8, 2026. ] The World Association for Sexual Health (WAS) today announced the theme and slogan for its 28th WAS Congress (WAS 2027), taking place in Cape Town, South Africa, October 1-3, 2027.
The Congress theme is Sexual Health, Rights, Justice, and Pleasure: Advancing Equity and Care Across the Life Course, carried by the slogan Every Body, Every Stage, Every Age.
The theme reflects a shift underway across the field of sexual health, from isolated, disease-focused interventions toward an integrated understanding of sexual health as a continuous part of wellbeing throughout life, spanning adolescence, the reproductive years, midlife, and aging. It builds directly on existing commitments under the WAS Declaration of Sexual Rights, the WAS Declaration on Sexual Justice, the WAS Declaration on Sexual Pleasure, and the Porto Proclamation on Sexual Health, Rights and Justice.
Cape Town was originally selected to host the WAS Congress in 2021, before the event moved online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2027 WAS Congress represents a deliberate choice to bring the global sexual health community together on African soil, centering Global South leadership and perspectives at a moment when sexual and reproductive rights face pressure in many parts of the world.
“This congress offers an opportunity to reflect on our shared responsibility to build a future in which Sexual Health, Rights, Justice, and Pleasure are realized for all people, regardless of age, identity, circumstance, or geography,” says Dr. Marlena du Toit, WAS 2027 Congress President.
Registration, program details, and further Congress information will be released in the months ahead.
Visit www.wascongress.org for updates.
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About WAS
Founded in 1978, the World Association for Sexual Health (WAS) serves as the global confederation of professional organizations, academics, clinicians, educators, and advocates dedicated to Sexual Health and Rights for All. Through six regional federations and organizational and individual members, WAS promotes sexual health as a fundamental human right.
WAS holds official relations with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) as a Non-State Actor, and Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
WAS partners with the UNFPA on comprehensive sexuality education and professional training, convenes the annual World Sexual Health Assembly, leads the Sexual Justice Initiative and World Sexual Health Day each year on September 4.
Its global commitments through 2030 are set out in the Porto Proclamation on Sexual Health, Rights and Justice.
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Media Contact
Stefan Joubert
Media Contact, World Association for Sexual Health
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