On October 27, 2022, the Feminist Financing Group brought together representatives of Member States, the UN, and civil society for the first time since the adoption of the Financing Resolution to discuss concrete actions for more meaningful inclusion of women in decision-making around developing and implementing funding priorities.
As the deadly war continues in Yemen, the uncontrolled spread of COVID-19 in 2020 threatened to exacerbate an already dire humanitarian situation. Through a special COVID-19 grant issued by ICAN’s Innovative Peace Fund (IPF), Food4Humanity pivoted their work to respond to the pandemic.
Through ICAN’s Innovative Peace Fund (IPF), we have supported the Association of War Affected Women (AWAW) in Sri Lanka since 2013. Visaka Dharmadasa, Founder and Chair of AWAW, spoke to our IPF Program Director, France Bognon, about how flexible funding in their project yielded unexpected results.
Funded by ICAN’s Innovative Peace Fund (IPF), AWAPSA launched a project across Kenya’s coastal counties to increase awareness of SGBV, educate women and girls on how to report instances of SGBV, and facilitate the reporting of cases to the police. One of the most significant and unforeseen outcomes of AWAPSA’s project was the establishment of Kenya’s first special court for handling SGBV cases, which opened in March 2022, at Shanzu Law Courts, Mombasa.
The lack of quality financing for peacebuilding is a major challenge to sustainable peace. Quality financing is adequate, flexible, predictable, and sustainable financial mechanisms for local women peacebuilders who are the first responders to crises and best positioned to advance sustainable peace in their communities. This outcome document from the multi-stakeholder dialogues series on innovative solutions for feminist financing for peacebuilding outlines five key priorities moving forward.