AFRICA & THE MENA REGION - Prospera International Network of Women's Funds

Africa & MENA region

African Women's Development Funds

Accra, Ghana

Over the past 15 years, the AWDF has blazed a trail for women’s rights and philanthropy across Africa. The first pan- African women’s grant maker on the continent, AWDF has established itself as an innovative organisation at the cutting edge of social justice and women’s rights philanthropy in Africa. Since the start of operations in 2001, AWDF has provided over 28 million dollars in grants to 1,294 women led organisations in 42 African countries.

Doria Feminist Fund

Ottawa, Canada

Doria Feminist Fund is the first feminist fund targetting the entire MENA region In Doria, we firmly believe that a regional women’s fund will transform the power structures of funding that disadvantage nascent groups and will place knowledgeable regional feminists at the front and center of decision-making, which is essential to ensure that feminist funding reaches the most deserving groups and is properly utilized. It will also ensure that regional activists have the tools, networks and resources to voice and write their own narratives of their work, their experiences and the challenges they face which is currently a gap in feminist knowledge production in the region.

Fonds Pur Les Femmes Congolais

Democratic Republic of Congo

The Fonds pour les femmes Congolaises was established in November, 2007. Located in Kinshasa, the Fonds pour les Femmes Congolaises works nationally in the Republic Democratic of Congo. The mission of the FFC is to support women’s organizations at the base for the effective promotion of Congolese women’s and girls’ rights.

Mediterranean Women's Funds

Montpellier, France

The Mediterranean Women’s Fund sprang from the women’s movement itself and is at the heart of the multiple connections of local and regional networks. Created in 2007 by five women, all active in women’s groups and networks in the Mediterranean region and with extensive experience raising funds on a volunteer basis for projects in Turkey, France, and Maghreb. They are familiar with the obstacles that women activists face in their work for equality and, advised by about twenty prominent women activists of the region, are in an excellent position to analyze and meet the needs within the specific context.

UHAI EASHRI

Kenya- Nairobi

UHAI is Africa’s first indigenous activist led and managed fund for and by sex workers and sexual and gender minorities. UHAI believes in African activists’ voice in resourcing the struggle for equality, justice and dignity for Africa’s sex workers and sexual and gender minorities. UHAI is changing the narrative of how Africa’s human rights and health struggles are resourced from one of ‘foreign assistance’ to one of ownership and self-determination by the very activists who live the struggles. UHAI supports civil society organising for and by sex workers and sexual and gender minorities in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda with flexible and accessible grants; capacity support; support for Pan-African advocacy and organising (including support for activist-led convening); and research and documentation.

Urgent Action Fund - Africa

Nairobi, Kenya

Urgent Action Fund–Africa (UAF-Africa), a consciously feminist and women’s human rights pan-African Fund, established in 2001 in Nairobi, Kenya. As the first rapid response Fund on the continent, UAF-Africa adds value to the work of activists and civil society organisations focusing on women’s active socio-political participation and visibility by leveraging resources and opportunities for critical engagements that advance women’s rights. Committed to working across Africa, UAF-Africa builds broader alliances with partners at national, regional, and international levels.

Women Fund Tanzania

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Women’s Fund Tanzania is a women’s rights fund and the first of its kind in Tanzania. Started in 2007 by women who live and work within the women’s movement(s) in Tanzania, WFT was registered in Tanzania in 2008 as a non-profit organization. In 2009, a supportive international structure was registered in The Netherlands as a foundation dedicated to mobilizing resources to support the implementation in Tanzania.