Project profile — Women’s Voice and Leadership - Caribbean Region

• West Indies, regional (100.00%)

• Government And Civil Society, General: Women's rights organisations and movements, and government institutions (15170) (100.00%)

• Gender equality (principal objective)
• Environmental sustainability (cross-cutting) (not targeted)
• Participatory development and good governance (not targeted)
• Trade development (not targeted)
• Biodiversity (not targeted)
• Climate change mitigation (not targeted)
• Climate Change Adaptation (not targeted)
• Urban issues (not targeted)
• Desertification (not targeted)
• Children's issues (not targeted)
• Youth Issues (significant objective)
• Disaster Risk Reduction(DRR) (not targeted)
• Indigenous Issues (not targeted)
• Disability (not targeted)
• Nutrition (not targeted)
• ICT as a tool for development (significant objective)

This project is part of Canada’s Women’s Voice and Leadership Program, which supports local and regional women’s organisations and networks that are working to promote women’s rights, and advance women’s empowerment and gender equality in developing countries. This is done by supporting activities, building institutional capacity, and promoting network and alliance-building as women’s rights and feminist organizations are critical agents of change. The Program also responds to the globally recognized, significant gap in funding and support to women’s rights organizations and movements around the world. This project is being implemented by the Equality Fund (formerly MATCH International Centre) in partnership with the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice. Twenty to thirty selected grantee organisations from eligible countries in the Caribbean region benefit from multi-year funding to support core programming, as well as responsive short-term funding for new ideas, innovations and emerging opportunities.

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) improved management and sustainability of local women’s rights organizations in the Caribbean, particularly those representing vulnerable and marginalized women and girls; (2) enhanced delivery of programming and advocacy by women’s rights organizations to advance gender equality in the Caribbean; and (3) increased effectiveness of national and sub-national women’s rights platforms, networks and alliances to affect gender-sensitive policy change and policy implementation in the Caribbean.

Results achieved as of March 2024 include: (1) supported 26 grantees from 8 Caribbean countries to benefit from responsive capacity building grants valued at C$210,206; (2) produced and shared 21 learning resources on management, sustainability and feminist leadership with 26 grantees. The presentations, assessments and resource guides focused on vison and sustainability, wellness and healing justice, and storytelling approaches for MEL; (3) awarded 27 grants (C$129,916) to support innovative program and advocacy ideas which have benefited 19 grantees across all 8 countries; and (4) supported 53 individuals from women's rights and LBTQI+ organizations to participate in a policy seminar entitled "Together we are stronger" on how to advance national, regional, and sub-regional policy agendas. The panellists shared opportunities for joint policy and legal reform.

• Proactive disclosure