The second phase of the Feminists in Action project is officially launched! After an initial phase that provided support to nearly 200 grassroots feminist organisations, the consortium partners – Equipop, the Mediterranean Women’s Fund, the Pananetugri Initiative, Oxfam France and CARE France – are once again joining forces. This new phase builds on the lessons learned and experiences of previous years to enrich our methods of supporting feminist movements.
New methods, same objectives
Feminists in Action continues to pursue the same ambitions: to support, strengthen and network grassroots feminist organisations. This second 26-month phase, with a budget of €3.9 million, offers organisations the financial means to take action, strengthen their organisational capacity and create opportunities for alliances.
Our four areas of action remain the same: defending and promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), combating gender-based violence (GBV), strengthening women’s economic empowerment and access to rights.
To better meet the needs of organisations, the funding mechanism is structured around two more flexible channels tailored to their needs:
– Channel A: dedicated to financing operational projects and the structural costs of organisations, for amounts between €5,000 and €50,000. This channel makes it possible to support a project led by a feminist organisation or to finance its essential costs – salaries, rent, equipment, or expenses related to its institutional development.
– Channel B: dedicated to financing collective actions involving several organisations, for grant amounts between €30,000 and €100,000. This channel targets larger-scale initiatives: advocacy campaigns, training programmes, research projects or joint actions for structural impact, particularly on public policy and behavioural change.
A narrower geographical scope, a stronger commitment
This new phase covers 17 countries, compared to 30 previously. This refocusing will make it possible to maintain significant grant amounts while continuing to support organisations that were able to receive assistance and support during the first phase. With a view to sustainability, the majority of funding will be allocated to organisations that are already partners of Feminists in Action.
With a limited budget, consortium members face new challenges as feminist organisations encounter increasing difficulties in a context of global rollbacks in women’s rights and the rise of anti-rights and anti-choice movements.
Faced with the current “backslash“, the fate of organisations that will no longer receive support from Feminists in Action is a concern for consortium members, who continue to defend the need to support grassroots organisations on the front line.
Feminist organisations operate in a difficult environment: they face a shortage of funding and increasingly virulent anti-rights offensives. The freezing of US federal aid and the widespread decline in official development assistance from European governments affecting programmes on gender, diversity and inclusion are having a direct impact on the feminist ecosystem in countries in the Global South.
Further reading: Supporting feminist organisations: a necessary and effective investment in advancing women’s rights
In this fragile environment, the commitment of France and its partners to supporting feminist organisations appears more essential than ever. The continuation of the Feminists in Action project reflects a deep conviction: the defence of women’s rights and the rights of marginalised people is based on solidarity and collective action.
➡️ To learn more about the new phase of Feminists in Action or find out about upcoming funding opportunities, visit our dedicated page or follow our news.