Influencing change through flexible funding - conversations with women’s rights organisations in Nigeria, South Sudan and Yemen

Developed as part of the Resourcing Change project, this paper brings together the perspectives of 19 women’s rights organisations from Nigeria, South Sudan and Yemen. It examines the funding barriers they face – and the difference flexible, long-term support can make. 

Rigid and opaque funding models continue to constrain women’s rights organisations’ access to resources and decision-making spaces, with UN Women warning that nearly half are at risk of shutting down. Yet where flexible funding is available, these organisations demonstrate their transformative impact - advancing women’s rights, peacebuilding and socio-economic justice in their communities. Crucially, they also embody the core principles of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda by promoting women’s participation, protection, and leadership in shaping inclusive and sustainable peace. 

The paper offers practical steps for donors and international NGOs to design more inclusive and equitable funding approaches that recognise and support women’s rights organisations’ leadership and expertise. In conflict-affected contexts, where their contributions are critical, such change is essential to building lasting peace and advancing the Women, Peace and Security agenda. 

Read the paper here.

Watch our Resourcing Change video series here.

Read the Resourcing Change: Supporting women’s rights organisations in fragile and conflict-affected states policy and learning brief here.