Resourcing Women's and Feminist Funds in the Global South and East

Prospera International Network of Women’s Funds is a global political network that brings together 44 women’s and feminist funds with the mandate to support movements led by women and girls, trans, intersex and non-binary people who are working to make a more feminist, dignified and just world. Prospera’s member funds provide sustained financial resources to activists and organizations – as well as capacity-building, technical assistance, convening and network-building – to realize their vision of social justice. Member funds apply an intersectional lens to funding: recognizing the plurality of movements and organizations as well the diversity of their contexts and needs. Among the intersecting issues that their grantees work on are sexual and reproductive health and rights, gender-based violence, civil and political rights, and women’s economic empowerment. Prospera’s members provide funding to collectives, organizations and movements that are commonly underfunded and in the peripheries, where traditional philanthropy can hardly reach. As members are embedded in the feminist movements they fund, they can easily analyze the context and mobilize resources where they are needed the most. In many cases, funding provided by our members is the only funding accessible in the country or region. More than 75% of funds in the network are based in the Global South and East; many funds are led by activists from the movements they serve. To address unequal access to capital within the network and to keep strengthening the financial and political capacity of its member funds, Prospera is developing a new pooled funding mechanism. The mechanism will leverage more resources to member funds operating in the Global South and East with annual budgets under $3 million. This mechanism currently involves 24 Prospera´s member funds who together make direct grants to local women’s and feminist organizations and movements, commonly underfunded and in the peripheries, across 73 countries in Latin America, Europe, Africa and Asia and the Pacific regions. The Mechanism will provide flexible, non-restricted and trust-based funding through an equal distribution of resources. The Mechanism also will support funds throughout to convene together to share experiences and learning.

Prospera’s 44 member funds redistribute resources and uplift the voices, leadership, and power of diverse women’s and feminist activists, organizations, and movements. Their sustained funding and support enable grantees to be resilient and to pursue their activism for a more inclusive, equal, free and just world. Collectively, member funds seek to transform philanthropy around the world to fund in feminist ways by shifting power and putting flexible money directly into the hands of people leading grassroots movements.

Women’s and feminist funds practice trust-based, democratic, and de-colonial philanthropy. This means activists are at the center of their work; they provide deep listening and respond with intention to activists’ needs. In this way, Prospera´s members resource movements in ways that respond directly to movement agendas, needs, and contexts. Resources for the most part are core, flexible, long-term and multi-year, with rapid/emergency response funds also available. This allows feminist and social movements can fully focus on their activist and advocacy work, instead of struggling to achieve financial stability.

At present the network collectively mobilizes over $200 million USD annually and provides grants in 178 countries. In 2021, the 24 funds that make up the Mechanism made almost 1,500 grants in the Global South and East totaling over $17 million USD. Just a few examples of work that these 24 funds supported in the areas of sexual and reproductive rights and health and women’s economic empowerment include:

Apthapi-Jopueti Women's Fund Bolivia: Funds organizations working with girls and adolescents on comprehensive sexual education, bodily autonomy, and dignified menstruation.
XOESE, the Francophone Women's Fund: Supports grantees in West Africa working in the intersection of health with women’'s economic empowerment, including economic and social reintegration for women who have undergone female genital mutilation or have diseases affecting their genitals.
Calala Fondo de Mujeres: Contributes to legal support for women imprisoned for abortion and miscarriage in El Salvador; funds a regional advocacy platform for sexual and reproductive rights in Central America.
On The Right Track: a collaborative initiative of several Prospera member funds in Latin America and Europe to protect the values of freedom, democracy and diversity from religious fundamentalism and far-right’s attacks.

A full list of Prospera’s member funds can be found on their website.

Prospera International Network of Women's Funds

Resourcing Women's and Feminist Funds in the Global South and East

Model and Strategy

Impact

Leadership

The Women of Prospera