Fund Us Like You Want Us To Win

Peacebuilding is inadequately financially supported, and many women-led peacebuilding organisations are struggling to survive. According to the UN Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO), the share of the official development assistance (ODA) committed to peacebuilding in conflict-affected countries and territories declined to 11.4% in 2018 from the 19.7% in 2009. Of this, even less is available to women peacebuilders. Meanwhile, the proportion of bilateral aid to conflict-affected countries focused on gender equality as the primary objective has been stuck at only 5% since 2010, and only 0.2% of this goes directly to women’s organizations. 

The existing mechanisms of channeling money to local peacebuilders through multilateral agencies risk reducing efficiency of peacebuilding action in achieving its intended impact. Many of the current models create unnecessary steps before the money reaches the local level and as a result, most funds are exhausted before they reach women peacebuilders. 

To highlight some of the structural challenges impeding feminist and impactful financing for peacebuilding and offer concrete recommendations, GNWP worked together with Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC), International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN), Kvinna till Kvinna, MADRE, and Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) to develop a background paper titled “Feminist Solutions for more Impactful Financing for Peacebuilding” for the 2022 High-Level Meeting on Financing for Peacebuilding.

The background paper focuses on six critical structural barriers:

1. inadequate cumulative amount of funding for peacebuilding in light of competing priorities of Member States;
2. scarcity of direct funding to women peacebuilders;
3. persistent presumption of incapacity and risk when funding women peacebuilders;
4. lack of opportunities for women peacebuilders to influence decision-making about financing priorities;
5. short-term, output-driven financing models; and
6. severe scarcity of rapidly accessible and flexible funding for the protection of women peacebuilders.

It explores innovative avenues to transform the current system of peacebuilding financing to sustainably address the challenges faced by diverse women peacebuilders in the pursuit of inclusive and lasting peace.

Building off the background paper, in collaboration with UN Women, the Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action (WPS-HA) Compact, and Member States champions, GNWP and partners hosted a series of roundtables to explore concrete avenues to meaningfully support women-led peacebuilding work and develop feminist strategies towards quality financing for peacebuilding. Following the conclusion of the roundtables, an outcome document summarizing key priorities was produced.

Following the UN General Assembly’s adoption of Resolution A/RES/76/305 on Financing for Peacebuilding in September 2022, the Feminist Financing Group brought together representatives of Member States, the UN, and civil society for to discuss concrete actions for more meaningful inclusion of women in decision-making around developing and implementing funding priorities. The discussion highlighted the significance of multi-year and flexible funding mechanisms and emphasized the importance of engaging diverse stakeholders to strengthen feminist funding practices. An outcome document was produced to summarize the discussion and recommendations.