Why Funders Must Recognise Women’s Organisations as Essential

Funders Must Prioritise Women’s Organisations for Real Change

It is now clear from our members on the frontline of women’s rights that the situation is not improving. On the contrary, they are facing the threat of closure with no security of investment for the year ahead and beyond. 

Funders are still grappling with their own responses to ever-increasing inequality and poverty. Yet many seem to have forgotten that poor and violated women must be prioritised if we want to see families, children, and society surviving and thriving. 

Naming and Supporting Women is Key to Tackling Systemic Inequality

A quick scan reveals that women are no longer named as a group experiencing severe and multiple disadvantages. It is not uncommon to see funders distil inequality into themes such as 'housing' or 'migration', which are, of course, areas in much need of attention. We have also seen a welcomed focus on ‘global majority’ funding streams. 

Women, who are both overrepresented and often hidden in all areas of inequality and need, including housing, migration, and racial justice, must be named if the intricate, multifaceted specificities of our lives are to be better supported and improved. 

Some funders are naming ‘gender justice’ or ‘gender equality,’ but these are often in the minority and still fail to prioritise women’s organisations. Varying definitions of women’s organisations all too often allow generic organisations delivering women’s projects to attract too much of these investments. 

A Hidden Crisis: Securing the Future of Women’s Rights Organisations

It appears funders are not fully cognisant of women’s organisations’ right to exist and our critical benefit for women, not just in the short term, but importantly for the long term. Our in-depth knowledge, expertise, and remedies not only save on public funds immediately but are at the vanguard of societal shifts for the future, when we hope our work will no longer be required. 

The discussion from the closing panel of this month's Charity Finance Summit reinforces our view. Priya Singh, chair of NCVO, highlighted the challenges small charities face due to financial pressures and a regulatory environment that doesn’t allow them to thrive. In our sector, women’s organisations are consistently underfunded, undervalued, and overlooked.

Our request to funders is to name women’s and girls’ organisations as a specific priority for funding. Without deliberate, targeted action (temporary special measures under CEDAW), social justice will not be achieved, and our sector will continue to evaporate. 

With that, there must also be clarity on what constitutes a women’s organisation.

Vivienne Hayes, CEO
Women’s Resource Centre

Sign our petition calling for a National Women's Fund demanding that community-based organisations are funded to do their life-saving work.