Women's Funds

Women's funds are publicly supported institutions that depend on donations from donor agencies, corporations and the general public. Women's funds are dedicated to mobilizing financial, human and technical resources to support the rights of women and girls in marginalized communities. They are also dedicated to long-term asset-building (i.e. investments in endowments, real estate and other assets) in order to ensure the sustainability of women's initiatives in different parts of the world.1

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African Women's Development Fund (AWDF)

The African Women's Development Fund (AWDF) funds local, national, sub-regional and regional organisations in Africa working towards women's empowerment. The AWDF is an institutional capacity-building and programme development fund, which aims to help build a culture of learning and partnerships within the African women's movement. The AWDF funds work in six thematic areas: Women's Human Rights; Political Participation; Peace Building; Health, Reproductive Rights; Economic Empowerment; and HIV/AIDS. Apply for a grant.

Central American Women's Fund

The grants given by the Central American Women's Fund are mainly directed to support creative and innovative initiatives of groups of young women that promote their economic, social, cultural and political rights in their countries. The Central American Women's Fund supports the work of young women's groups in Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Belize, and Costa Rica. The Central American Women's Fund prioritizes groups located in areas outside of the capital and in rural areas, that work with new or controversial issues, that have little access to other funding and that work with especially marginalized populations (such as indigenous or Afro-Caribbean women). Apply for a grant.

Filia Women's Foundation

Filia Women's Foundation supports projects that create better opportunities for women and girls, allowing them to shape their own lives. Filia is especially committed to women subjected to discrimination not only because of their gender, but also due to the colour of their skin, their origin or sexual orientation. Based in Germany, Filia works to provide financial support for women's projects in Germany, the Global South, and Eastern Europe. Apply for a grant.

Fondo Mujer

Fondo Mujer is a network fund that works toward the development of a just society of equity for women in Colombia, specifically advocating female empowerment in personal, social, and economic dimensions, a culture of capacity-building and sustainable development. Allocation of funds and resources by Fondo Mujer aims to strengthen female initiatives and bring awareness to humanitarian issues relevant to women such as: human rights, women as victims of armed conflict, economic autonomy for women, education for women, and cultural and artistic enterprises.

Global Fund for Women

The Global Fund for Women is an international network of women and men committed to a world of equality and social justice. The Global Fund advocates for and defends women's human rights by making grants to seed, strengthen and link women's rights groups around the world. The Global Fund addresses human rights issues that include: Ending Gender-Based Violence and Building Peace; Ensuring Economic and Environmental Justice; Advancing Health and Sexual and Reproductive Rights; Expanding Civic and Political Participation; Increasing Access to Education; and Fostering Social Change Philanthropy. Apply for a Grant.

Mama Cash

Mama Cash is a women's fund that supports groundbreaking initiatives by women who are working to strengthen women's rights worldwide. Mama Cash finances women's self-initiated projects in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe, the Netherlands and the former Soviet Union, and often supports small groups that are newly established. Mama Cash's work is based on the following themes: bodily integrity, economic justice, peace and security, agency and participation, and lastly, art, culture and media. Apply for a grant.

Semillas

Semillas is the only women's fund in Mexico. Semillas finances the projects of women's organizations that prioritize the promotion and defense of the human rights of women, especially those of marginalized women. Semillas provides economic and technical resources to women's organizations that carry out projects in the following areas: Human Rights; Sexual and Reproductive Rights; Sexual Diversity; Prevention of Violence and Access to Justice; and Workers' Rights. Apply for a grant.

Women's Funding Network

Founded in 1985, the Women's Funding Network (WFN) is an international organization with over 100 member funds (and 20 associate members) that are committed to improving the status of women and girls locally, nationally and globally. As a worldwide partnership of women's funds, donors, and allies committed to social justice, the Women's Funding Network seeks to ensure that women's funds are recognized as the "investment of choice" for people who value the full participation of women and girls as key to strong, equitable, and sustainable communities and societies.


End Notes

1. An Action-Research Project of The Association for Women's Rights in Development, "Where is the money for women's rights? Assessing the resources and the role of donors in the promotion of women's rights and the support of women's rights organizations," February 2006.