This background paper was prepared by the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP), Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC), International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN), Kvinna till Kvinna, MADRE, and Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF).
Peacebuilding is inadequately financially supported, and many women-led peacebuilding organisations are struggling to survive. According to the UN Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO), the share of the official development assistance (ODA) committed to peacebuilding in conflict-affected countries and territories declined to 11.4% in 2018 from the 19.7% in 2009. Of this, even less is available to women peacebuilders. Meanwhile, the proportion of bilateral aid to conflict-affected countries focused on gender equality as the primary objective has been stuck at only 5% since 2010, and only 0.2% of this goes directly to women’s organizations.

The existing mechanisms of channeling money to local peacebuilders through multilateral agencies risk reducing efficiency of peacebuilding action in achieving its intended impact. Many of the current models create unnecessary steps before the money reaches the local level and as a result, most funds are exhausted before they reach women peacebuilders.

To highlight some of the structural challenges impeding feminist and impactful financing for peacebuilding and offer concrete recommendations, GNWP worked together with Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC), International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN), Kvinna till Kvinna, MADRE, and Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) to develop a background paper titled “Feminist Solutions for more Impactful Financing for Peacebuilding” for the 2022 High-Level Meeting on Financing for Peacebuilding.