Still standing: The resilience of women peacebuilders in a time of crisis

As we mark International Women’s Day 2025, women’s rights organisations (WROs) and frontline activists in crisis and conflict settings are standing strong despite immense challenges. Across Sudan, Afghanistan, Yemen, Myanmar and beyond, women are leading life-saving interventions, advocating for peace, and holding together communities fractured by war and displacement. Yet, while their work is more critical than ever, the harsh reality is that many are being forced to operate with dwindling resources, due to global funding cuts and shifting donor priorities towards militarisation, over a genuine investment in long-term peace, security and gender justice. 

At a time when conflict, displacement and violence against women are escalating, and misogyny is a core pillar of the far-right agenda, these cuts will only deepen existing inequalities and undermine efforts to build sustainable peace and security globally. The reduction in funding for gender equality and Women, Peace and Security (WPS) initiatives threatens to reverse decades of progress and compounds the global rollback on women’s equality, safety and security. For example, cuts to the UK official development assistance (ODA) budget in 2021 led to a 30 per cent reduction in funding to programming with a focus on gender equality and to a 66% reduction in funding to WROs compared to 2017. WROs and women-led organisations – many of which are small community groups – often struggle to access direct, flexible and long-term funding, despite being the first responders in humanitarian crises and leading conflict prevention and peace efforts. When funding disappears, so do vital services, safe spaces for survivors of gender-based violence and conflict-related sexual violence, safe spaces for women peacebuilders to re-mobilise, legal aid for women and girls who have been displaced, and advocacy that ensures women’s voices are central in peace processes.  But despite these constraints, WROs and women peacebuilders are still standing. Their resilience is evident in their ability to adapt, mobilise local resources and continue working in the most difficult circumstances. But resilience alone is not enough – they need meaningful and sustained support. 

What needs to change? 

As the world commemorates International Women’s Day and gathers at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) to discuss gender equality and sustainable development, we reaffirm our commitment to ensuring that women and girls play a central role in peacebuilding and conflict prevention efforts around the world.  

The international community, donors, funders and philanthropists will need to act urgently to ensure that WROs are not just surviving but thriving. This means:  

1. Increasing direct, flexible and long-term funding and shifting power to local women-led organisations, women activists and women’s groups – we have seen the value in our work of providing sustained core funding to WROs, moving beyond short-term, project-based grants to ensure continuity of their critical efforts in conflict prevention, peacebuilding and humanitarian response. To make this shift meaningful, international organisations and donors should prioritise direct and flexible funding to frontline WROs rather than channelling resources through large intermediaries. This will ensure that funding reaches those who are best placed to drive lasting change within their communities. 
2. Ensuring women's leadership in conflict prevention, peace and humanitarian processes – women from all backgrounds and marginalised communities must have a seat at decision-making tables, not just as implementers but as equal partners in shaping policies and solutions that affect their lives. 
3. Standing up for gender equality and women’s rights – urgently pushing back against reversals in women’s rights and gender equality, especially in fragile and conflict-affected contexts, where regressive policies and shrinking civic space are eroding hard-won gains. Women peacebuilders, human rights defenders and frontline activists are already standing up to these challenges, demanding that women’s voices remain central. Their leadership must be protected, amplified and meaningfully supported to sustain progress and counteract the global rollback on gender equality. 
4. Protecting and supporting women human rights defenders and peacebuilding organisations – governments and international actors must recognise and safeguard the work of women human rights defenders and peacebuilding organisations in conflict zones, ensuring they can operate without fear of reprisals. 
5. Strengthening accountability mechanisms – governments and multilateral bodies must hold themselves accountable to their commitments to the WPS agenda and support localisation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on WPS. 

Women’s rights organisations are the backbone of peace and resilience in crisis and conflict settings. This International Women’s Day, we celebrate their unwavering commitment – but celebration is not enough. The global community must act with urgency to fund, support and protect these organisations so they can continue to drive meaningful change. 

Saferworld actively engages with Women, Peace and Security platforms and with other international platforms. This allows us to collaborate with activists and peacebuilders from around the world on how women can meaningfully participate in peace processes. Amid the global rollback of women’s rights, we are hosting events in New York for the Commission on the Status of Women to elevate the voices, experiences and perspectives of women affected by conflict.

Please join Saferworld and partners by attending our hybrid event, ‘Sudan Women Peacebuilders: Driving Change in the Face of Conflict’ on 11 March at 2.30pm EST and 8.30pm time in Khartoum, held both in person at CSW and online (register here for the online option), and a second virtual event, ‘Women Leading Peace: Shifting Power and Resources’ on 20 March at 8.30am EST and 12.30pm GMT, held virtually (register here).  

Learn more about our work on gender equality.  

Join us at CSW69 events:

CSW69 - 69th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women 

Sudan Women Peacebuilders: Driving Change in the Face of Conflict 

English with Arabic interpretation | Hybrid event: In person and online

11 March 2025 from 2.30 to 4pm EST, 6.30 to 8pm UK time, 8.30 to 10pm in Khartoum 

In-person event held at: Salvation Army (Lower level): 221 E. 52nd St., New York, NY 10022

Register for the online event here

CSW69 - 69th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women 

Women Leading Peace: Shifting Power and Resources

Virtual event

20 March 2025 at 8.30am EST and 12.30pm GMT

Register for the online event here