Strengthening feminist movements through the Movement Strengthening Fund Cycle 3
By Womankind Worldwide
We believe that diverse, intersectional feminist movements are the key to achieving a feminist future. The organisations and activists that make up these movements have the power to achieve transformative change on a national, regional and global level through policy, law, attitudes and beliefs.
“Feminist movements are places of human engagement, which, through courageous activism and audacity, hold open spaces for the new, transformative and creative to emerge. Their activities change reality,” Hope Chigudu
Movement dynamics are relational, and it is the connections, trust and understanding forged between, often very different women, girls and people of all genders that can make or break the subsequent collective actions for a gender equal future. In this way, collective action is not just what is done together, but how it is done.
We believe that funding and initiatives that solely focus on achieving the end goals of feminist movements often miss an opportunity to strengthen the processes of movement building. The Movement Strengthening Fund (MSF) has been designed to strengthen relational dynamics of feminist movements so that the resulting collective actions can be more impactful. This is why Womankind created the MSF in 2021.
Flexible funding through the MSF meets the movement-strengthening needs often not funded by other funders. In Cycles 1 and 2, we funded 19 movement strengthening initiatives through MSF. After Cycle 1 of the MSF we shared learnings in this report by Hope Chigudu. After Cycle 2, we shared the impact that MSF had for feminist movements in Nepal, Uganda, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia.
We’re thrilled to announce the seven grantees from Cycle 3 in Kenya, Nepal, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
“Each organisation that Womankind is funding in Cycle 3 of the Movement Strengthening Fund, plays a crucial role in their movement or movements. Through supporting the feminist, intersectional and inclusive approaches of these grantees, Womankind continues to work towards our strategy to 2030 and to resource the revolution through flexible funding.” – Laura Brown, Programme Manager, Movement and Network Strengthening, Womankind Worldwide.
