In December 2021, Channel partners Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP), International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN), and Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), along with the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC), Kvinna till Kvinna, and MADRE, prepared “Fund Us Like You Want Us to Win,” a background paper highlighting the structural challenges to feminist and impactful financing for peacebuilding. The paper focused on six structural barriers that women peacebuilders face in accessing funding for their work:
- inadequate cumulative amount of funding for peacebuilding in light of competing priorities of [UN] Member States;
- scarcity of direct funding to women peacebuilders;
- persistent presumption of incapacity and risk when funding women peacebuilders;
- lack of opportunities for women peacebuilders to influence decision-making about financing priorities;
- short-term, output-driven financing models; and
- severe scarcity of rapidly accessible and flexible funding for the protection of women peacebuilders.
While recognizing that existing solutions to these challenges need to be further strengthened, this paper offers concrete, innovative, and practical ways to transform the current system of peacebuilding financing in order to address challenges faced by women peacebuilders.
