Project profile — Equality Fund: Sustaining Funding to Women’s Organizations in Developing Countries

• South of Sahara, regional (25.00%)
• Africa, regional (25.00%)
• America, regional (25.00%)
• Asia, regional (25.00%)

• 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 (not targeted)
• Disaster Risk Reduction(DRR) (not targeted)
• Indigenous Issues (not targeted)
• Disability (not targeted)
• Nutrition (not targeted)
• ICT as a tool for development (not targeted)

This project aims to increase the enjoyment of human rights by women and girls and the advancement of gender equality in countries receiving official development assistance (ODA). The Equality Fund creates a sustainable and predictable source of grant funding for women’s rights organizations and movements in developing countries. It does this by: mobilizing, receiving and managing financial contributions from governments, individuals, philanthropic foundations, the private sector and other donors, and; generating additional financial resources through gender lens investing, including gender lens impact investing, in line with the overall goals of the initiative. The financial returns from these investments contribute to the sustainability of the initiative over time, while gender lens investing contributes to gender equality outcomes. Project activities include: (1) granting funding to women’s rights organizations as the primary activity; (2) fundraising; (3) gender-lens investing; and (4) activities related to the design and build of the Equality Fund. The women’s rights organizations receiving grants from the Equality Fund are civil society organizations in developing countries that have a primary and overt mandate to advance women’s rights, gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. The implementing organizations are the Equality Fund, World University Services Canada, and the Toronto Foundation. The contribution agreement covers 15 years.

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) enhanced capacity of selected women’s organizations in ODA countries to advance gender equality and empower women and girls; (2) enhanced collective action by selected women’s organizations and movements in ODA countries to advance gender equality; (3) enhanced capacity of the feminist funding ecosystem to effectively fund women’s organizations and movements in ODA countries; (4) sustained flow of funds to support Equality Fund grant-making; and (5) increased use of gender lens investing as a strategy to deliver positive returns and support greater gender equality.

Results achieved through the support of the Government of Canada and other international donors as of March 2024 include: (1) granted $56 million to 151 women’s rights organizations and women’s funds since its inception. The on-grants from the women’s funds reached a further 983 women’s rights organizations; and (2) 96% of grantees from 2023 to 2024 reported a change in their capacity to advance gender equality changes and empower women and girls.

• Proactive disclosure
• Related activities: Equality Fund Initiative: Sustaining Funding to Women’s Organizations - Monitoring & Evaluation