Global Fund for Women Expands Presence to the UK

Global Fund for Women is proud to announce that it is expanding to the UK as it continues to ramp up its efforts to increase funding and support to women-led organizations fighting for their human rights around the world.

Global Fund for Women UK will build on Global Fund for Women’s 30-year history of finding, funding, and amplifying the work of women and girls. Global Fund for Women has granted over $150 million to women-led organizations across 175 counties since its founding in 1987 and helped win rights for millions of women and girls.

The President and CEO of Global Fund for Women, Musimbi Kanyoro, said, “After many years of working toward this goal, we are thrilled to see enthusiasm from our Board of Directors and other supporters for launching Global Fund for Women UK to join and bolster global women’s movements. We are united in a common vision: a world where all women and girls are strong, safe, powerful, and heard. No exceptions.”

The announcement comes at a critical time for both the global women’s rights movement and for women, girls, trans, and gender nonconforming people demanding justice and equality within their own communities, countries, and regions.

New research by Global Fund for Women UK explores how the women’s rights movement can create greater solidarity so it is better able to withstand the growing global backlash facing women’s human rights. Interviews with activist leaders in the UK and globally revealed that women’s rights organizations are working tirelessly to protect hard-won gains. Women’s rights advocates in the Global South face power dynamics which can crowd out local organizations, making it difficult for them to access funding to drive their own solutions.

Global Fund for Women UK is committed to helping shift these power dynamics by mobilizing funding directly to women-led grassroots organizations and movements. This approach is critical to creating long term social, economic, and political change required for a sustainable and equitable world.

UK Director, Rebecca Hanshaw, said: “Women’s rights face an unprecedented threat yet funding for women-led solutions remains woefully inadequate. With just over a decade to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals, it’s time to redouble our efforts and focus on gender equality as the gateway goal, and to prioritize funding for women-led groups. Global Fund for Women UK looks forward to playing a pivotal role in catalyzing partnerships to resource and amplify the work of grassroots organizations, as the key drivers of transformational change.”

For more information, visit www.globalfundforwomen.org.uk