Women’s rights are challenged all over the world, however women living in the Pacific face intersecting challenges that can make them all but invisible to the rest of the world. While globally donors are increasing their funding for gender equality and women’s empowerment, funding disbursements by OECD DAC members have stagnated over recent years in the Pacific. Less than 1% of grant funding is directed to women’s organisations in the region.

The means of funding Pacific women’s organisations (PWOs) is changing rapidly, bringing in new partners and a new way of working. But there is a gender data gap in relation to donor funding of PWOs. And there is a need to amplify and facilitate the voice of PWOs in funding decisions.

In early 2019, the Fiji Women’s Fund (FWF) and the Urgent Action Fund for Women’s Human Rights, Asia & Pacific (UAF A&P) commissioned a scoping study about the funding realities for women’s organisations in the region.Over 40 organisations including funders, financial and business intermediaries, women’s civil society organisations, and Disabled Persons Organisations (DPOs) were interviewed between February – May 2019 to seek insights into the funding of women’s organisations in Fiji, Papua New Guinea and more broadly across the Pacific.