The French Support Fund for feminist organisations
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Gender marker: G2-Promotes gender equality as a primary objective
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Period of implementation: Since 2020 (2020-2022 for the first phase)
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Amount: EUR 134,000,000
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Geographical area: Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Pacific, Americas and the Caribbean
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Funded by: the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and the French Development Agency.
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Implementing partners: International and/or national from southern countries, in partnership with structures, particularly local ones.
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Link to the project:
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GAP III’s Areas:
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Women, peace and security
- Strengthening Civil Society Organisations (in particular, funding and support to Women’s Rights Organisations and Movements)
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Within the framework of France’s feminist diplomacy and its International Strategy for Gender Equality 2018-2022, the “Support Fund for Feminist Organisations” (Fonds de soutien aux organisations féministes - FSOF) aims at empowering feminist civil society organisations operating in partner countries. In line with its feminist foreign policy and the commitments made at the Generation Equality Forum, this fund is developed in a process of co-construction with feminist civil society organisations.
The fund promotes active engagement with civil society by organising biannual consultations to exchange views on the themes and financing terms to be prioritised by the fund. Between 2020 and 2022, the “Support Fund for Feminist Organizations” has mobilised EUR 134 million for more than 1,000 feminist organisations in almost 70 countries. In 2022, an emblematic project was launched to support feminist movements in crisis and conflict zones in the Sahel, Central Africa and the Middle East, to the tune of EUR 6,750,000.
"The FSOF is a major funding source dedicated to supporting small feminist organisations. This kind of funding is both rare and extremely strategic and essential for a real (sustainable) strengthening of women's rights at the national level. The long-term work of promoting women's rights is carried out by these small, sometimes non-registered structures, and enabling their institutional capacity-building and survivors’ support through funding has real long-term impacts. Without the FSOF, we would not have been able to deploy this type of project, as we have no other equivalent funding from other donors." - International CSO supported by the FSOF.
Reflecting France’s feminist diplomacy engagement to implement the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda through its Third National Action Plan 2021-2025, the Fund includes the WPS Agenda as one of its priority areas of intervention.
But how does the fund achieve its objectives? The “Support Fund for Feminist Organisations” offers three complementary funding modalities adapted to the needs of each type of CSO. The fund covers the AFD’s CSO Initiatives Mechanism targeting French CSOs and provides direct support to local feminist CSOs in partner countries. In particular, it supports small organisations through the “Fund for Innovative Projects” (Fonds de solidarité pour les projets innovants - FSPI) and the “Solidarity Fund for Innovative Projects of Civil Societies and Coalitions of Actors” (Fonds de solidarité pour les Projets innovants pour la société civile et les coalitions d’acteurs - PISSCA).
The last 2022 call for proposals "Strengthening feminist CSOs working in the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda in crisis and conflict zones" was addressed to international and/or national from southern countries, in partnership with structures, especially local entities with relevant experience in the implementation of projects in crisis and conflict zones, in particular on the issues of women and girls’ rights, gender equality, sexual violence as a weapon of war, support to survivors, and actions on the ground in line with the Women, Peace and Security Agenda. France stresses the importance of civil society participation and defends the role of women as actors of peace and change.
If you want to know more about the Support Fund for Feminist Organisations, don’t miss the opportunity to watch this video and have a look at its Mid-Term Evaluation!