VANCOUVER — Nearly $600 million was committed to women and girls last week in three new announcements at the Women Deliver conference in Vancouver. The money — mobilized from government, philanthropy, and private sector — will be a powerful force for women’s rights and sexual and reproductive health, but it’s just the beginning of a growing wave of feminist funding that experts and advocates hope can help transform the way development is financed.
Launched last Monday with a 300 million Canadian dollar ($226.3 million) commitment from the government of Canada and C$100 million from philanthropic donors, the Equality Fund will combine international feminist grant-making with an investment arm to back on-the-ground initiatives in middle- and low-income countries, such as countering violence against women and enhancing women’s economic security and leadership.
It aims to solve the pervasive issue that so many local women’s rights organizations face: project funding that dries up in just a few years.