A collective call for building power, care and sustainable resourcing: Regional Dialogue on Feminist Funding in East & Southern Africa

81 gender equality advocates from women’s rights organizations (WROs), feminist philanthropies, the United Nations, and development and private sector partners recently deliberated on resourcing feminist movements over a two-day Regional Dialogue on Feminist Funding in East and Southern Africa.

Convened in Johannesburg, South Africa by UN Women’s East and Southern Africa Regional Office and the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women (Africa Regional Hub) under the European Union-funded Advocacy, Coalition Building, and Transformative Feminist Action (ACT) Programme, the dialogue fostered a space to enhance collective resilience and a recommitment to advancing feminist movements amid shrinking civic spaces, chronic underfunding, and rising backlash. 

The gathering built on the momentum of a Dialogue on Feminist Funding convened by UN Women in October 2024 in Nairobi, Kenya, which initiated ideas toward a shared vision for quality, sustained resourcing of WROs and coalitions working to end violence against women and girls (EVAWG). The 2025 convening focused on three goals:

1. Strengthening consensus on funding practices
2. Identifying actions to bolster resilience in the face of geopolitical and socio-economic shifts; and
3. Building solidarity across movements to dismantle systemic barriers in feminist resourcing.

From funding scarcity to ecosystem solidarity

Participants painted a stark picture of the funding landscape. A global survey by the Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID) estimated the median annual budget for feminist, women’s rights, gender justice, LGBTIQ+, and allied groups in Africa at just USD 23,000, pointing to a persistent budgetary glass ceiling that many are still struggling to break through. Most funding remains project-based and short-term, often lasting less than 12 months. Nearly 80 per cent of respondents found funder processes inaccessible, while around 60 per cent reported pressure to align their priorities with donor agendas.[1]

Yet the funding crisis extends far beyond individual organizations and is a factor impacting entities across the globe. Indeed, as one recent UN Women analysis highlights, worldwide (UN Women, 2025):

• Only 52 per cent of countries allocate sufficient financial resources and staffing to national gender machineries.
• Just 26 per cent meet standards for tracking gender-responsive budget allocations.
• Despite growing awareness, Official Development Assistance (ODA) for EVAWG programmes represents less than one per cent of total ODA – averaging USD 563 million per year (2021–2022).
• Support for WROs themselves accounts for under one per cent of ODA for gender equality, while only USD 410 million (0.2 per cent of ODA) went to gender-based violence prevention in that period.

“Investing in WROs is not an act of charity – it is a political imperative,” stressed Joy Watson, member of the ACT Steering Committee. “Without adequate resourcing, feminist movements are left vulnerable to collapse, opening space for anti-rights actors to reverse progress for women and girls.”

The dialogue highlighted an “ecosystem approach” to feminist funding – one that strengthens grassroots organizations, more inclusive regional coalitions, and national institutions collectively. Trust-based models, such as those pioneered by Mama Cash and the FRIDA Young Feminist Fund, were spotlighted for their participatory decision-making, flexible accompaniment, and centering of youth leadership.

Resisting backlash, advancing courage

Across the globe, feminist movements face rising backlash. A 2024 UN Trust Fund report revealed that over 70 per cent of grantee partners experienced at least one form of backlash – from defunding and restrictive laws to digital surveillance, disinformation, and even threats to life.

This backlash is systematic and strategic, obstructing access to justice, silencing activists, and weakening the infrastructure needed to end violence against women and girls.

Against this backdrop, Johannesburg participants called for bold action beyond rhetoric. A collective roadmap for advancing feminist funding emerged, with commitments to:

• Counter backlash with stronger solidarity;
• Advocate for core, flexible, long-term funding to women’s rights organizations;
• Strengthen inclusivity as part of building more intersectional movements; and
• Invest in self and collective care as an intentional strategy.

Voices From the Dialogue

Moving forward: care, collaboration, courage

Throughout the dialogue, self and collective care emerged as central to feminist resourcing not only caring for communities, but also for activists and organizations themselves. Participants underscored the need to embed wellbeing practices into funding models as a foundation for long-term sustainability.

As one participant put it: “We’ve had this conversation before – but repetition is resistance.”

The Johannesburg Dialogue brought a distinct clarity of purpose, cross-sectoral alignment, and collective commitment to transform power dynamics for more equitable, sustainable funding structures.

With momentum building and networks strengthened, the dialogue was not the end of a conversation, but a step forward in resourcing justice as the cornerstone of feminist futures in East and Southern Africa.