Ogweno Stephen and Oduor Kevin represented Stowelink Foundation at the International Congress on Obesity 2026, bringing African perspectives on obesity research, advocacy, lived experience, health systems and equitable care to one of the world’s leading obesity gatherings.
Stowelink Foundation was represented at the International Congress on Obesity (ICO) 2026 in Mexico City by Founder and Chief Executive Officer Ogweno Stephen and Chief Programs Officer Oduor Kevin, marking an important moment in the organization’s growing work to place African youth leadership, lived experience and community perspectives at the centre of the global obesity conversation.
Held from 15 to 17 July 2026 at the World Trade Center Mexico City, ICO 2026 brought together more than 2,600 delegates from 72 countries for three days of scientific exchange, policy discussions, clinical learning and conversations on the future of obesity prevention and care. The programme covered obesity biology and genetics, clinical treatment, public health, childhood obesity, pharmacotherapy, nutrition and food environments, mental health and stigma, artificial intelligence, health systems and Universal Health Coverage.
For Stowelink, participation in ICO was about more than attending an international conference. It was an opportunity to ensure that the realities of communities across Africa are represented in global conversations about obesity.
Bringing Africa’s Perspective Into the Obesity Conversation
Ogweno Stephen participated in several discussions during the Congress, contributing perspectives shaped by his work in public health, his experience as a person with lived experience of obesity, and his work building youth-led health solutions through Stowelink Foundation and Lifesten Health.
The official ICO programme listed Stephen as both a featured speaker and symposia speaker, reflecting his growing role in global conversations around obesity, advocacy and lived experience.
His participation also reflected an important principle that Stowelink has increasingly brought into its obesity advocacy work: research and lived experience should not exist in separate rooms.
Scientific evidence can help us understand the scale and drivers of obesity. Lived experience helps us understand what those numbers mean for people, families and communities.
That connection is central to Stowelink’s emerging Beyond the Scale Africa initiative, which seeks to challenge stigma, improve obesity literacy, elevate lived experience and advocate for healthier environments and stronger systems of care.
From Research to Real-World Action
A significant part of the conversations at ICO focused on the relationship between research, policy and implementation.
For Stowelink, this is particularly important in the African context.
Africa’s obesity response cannot simply replicate models developed in high-income settings. Solutions need to reflect local health systems, food environments, resources, cultural contexts and the realities of people living with obesity.
Ogweno’s contributions emphasized the importance of connecting evidence with lived realities and ensuring that research ultimately contributes to practical changes in prevention, treatment, policy and health systems.
This perspective aligns closely with Stowelink’s approach to public health, which combines research, advocacy, digital innovation and community action.
Advocating for Equitable Access to Obesity Treatment
Ogweno also contributed to the satellite symposium “Equitable access to obesity treatment in low- and middle-income countries: Aspirational goal or achievable public health priority?”
The session, co-hosted by the Medicines Patent Pool, International Diabetes Federation, World Heart Federation and World Obesity Federation, brought together global health leaders to examine the challenges of making emerging obesity treatments accessible in low- and middle-income countries. Discussions considered awareness, availability, affordability, health-system preparedness and adoption.
For Stowelink, the question of access is particularly important.
As new treatments emerge, the global conversation must also ask whether people in African countries will be able to access appropriate obesity care, whether health systems are prepared to provide it, and whether obesity treatment can be integrated into broader approaches to Universal Health Coverage.
Access to treatment should not become another area where geography and income determine who receives care.
Elevating Lived Experience
One of the strongest themes running through Stowelink’s participation at ICO was the importance of lived experience.
Ogweno has consistently advocated for people living with obesity to have a meaningful role in shaping the policies, research and health services that affect them.
This approach was also reflected in the broader ICO programme, which placed lived experience alongside clinical science, public health, policy and health systems discussions. The Congress included a dedicated Obesity Lived Experience Global Summit on 14 July, bringing together people living with obesity and related conditions from different regions and socioeconomic backgrounds.
For Stowelink, this represents an important shift in how obesity is discussed.
People living with obesity should not only be research participants, patients or audiences for health messages.
They should also be advocates, researchers, policy contributors, storytellers and decision-makers.
Connecting Global Conversations to Stowelink’s Work in Africa
Participation at ICO comes at an important time for Stowelink Foundation.
In 2026, the organization has been strengthening its work on obesity through Beyond the Scale Africa, a youth-led initiative designed to challenge stigma and move the conversation beyond weight alone.
The project brings together storytelling, community education, treatment literacy, lived-experience advocacy and digital engagement.
Stowelink has also continued engaging in food policy and nutrition conversations in Kenya. Through its participation in national dialogues on digitalisation, healthy food policy and NCD prevention, the organization has been exploring how digital platforms such as Lifesten Health can support healthier behaviours and contribute to healthier food environments.
These experiences give Stowelink a valuable perspective to bring into international spaces: the ability to connect global evidence with local implementation.
Building Partnerships Beyond the Conference
For Oduor Kevin and Ogweno Stephen, ICO also provided an opportunity to connect with researchers, advocates, policymakers, people with lived experience, development partners and organizations working across different parts of the obesity ecosystem.
These relationships are important for Stowelink’s next phase of work.
The organization is particularly interested in partnerships that can strengthen obesity advocacy in Africa, support youth leadership, expand access to reliable health information, generate evidence and build community-driven solutions.
The ultimate goal is not simply to participate in global conversations.
It is to bring useful knowledge, relationships and opportunities back to the communities and health systems where the work must ultimately happen.
From Mexico to Africa
Stowelink Foundation’s participation at ICO 2026 represents another step in its journey from a youth-led Kenyan organization to an increasingly connected African public health organization contributing to global health conversations.
The message Stowelink brought to Mexico was simple:
Africa must not be an afterthought in the global response to obesity.
The continent needs research that reflects its realities, policies that respond to its food and health environments, health systems prepared to provide quality obesity care, and advocacy that recognizes the voices of people living with obesity.
And young Africans must be part of building that response.
For Stowelink, the work does not end in Mexico.
It continues through Beyond the Scale Africa, community action, research, digital health, food policy advocacy and youth leadership, with the ambition of helping build an obesity response that is more equitable, evidence-based and grounded in the realities of African communities.
From Mexico City to Nairobi and beyond, Stowelink Foundation will continue working to move the conversation from awareness to action, from stigma to understanding, and from numbers to people.