In 2025, official development assistance from the members of the OECD Development Assistance Committee fell to US$174.3 billion. In real terms this was a drop of 23.1%, the largest annual contraction ever recorded. For women’s organisations in francophone West Africa, which already worked on small and short grants, this figure is more than a statistic. It describes salaries that could not be paid, shelters that closed and programmes that stopped in the middle of the year.
This article is the first in a series drawn from RFLD’s data report Funding Feminist Movements in Francophone West Africa: 2026 Data, published on 4 October 2026. The report covers eight countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo.
A record fall, and more to come
Preliminary OECD data show that the United States reduced its aid by 56.9% in 2025 and accounted for about three quarters of the global decline. Bilateral aid fell by 26.4% and core contributions to the United Nations by 27% (IISD, 2026). The fall did not stop there. The OECD projects a further drop of 6.9% in 2026, which would be only the second time in history that aid has fallen three years in a row. Bilateral aid to sub-Saharan Africa is projected to fall by 11.6% in 2026 (OECD, 2026).
For comparison, DAC members provided US$214.6 billion in 2024, which was already 6.0% less than the year before. In two years, the total envelope of official aid has shrunk by about US$40 billion.
Announced long before it was felt
Many of the cuts had been announced well before they reached organisations. An analysis cited by Equal Measures 2030 found that eight donor countries had announced US$17.2 billion in aid cuts over five years, and that four major sources of funding for women’s rights and gender equality were expected to reduce their funding by US$2.83 billion a year from 2026. AWID estimates that projected cuts by twelve major donors could reach about US$64 billion a year by 2026 (Morena et al., 2025).
For an organisation that relies on one or two grants, an announcement of this kind is enough to create immediate uncertainty. Directors start to ask whether they can renew staff contracts, keep their office or launch the next activity. Many decide to reduce their work before any money has actually been withdrawn.
What the cuts look like on the ground
Surveys of women’s organisations carried out since 2025 give a clear picture of the damage. In March 2025, UN Women surveyed 411 women’s organisations in 44 crisis settings. Ninety per cent reported that their funding had been affected, 47% expected to close within six months and 72% had already cut staff (UN Women, 2025a).
In October 2025, a second survey of 428 women’s rights organisations found that 34% had suspended or shut down programmes on violence against women, and that 40% had scaled back or closed shelters, legal aid or psychosocial services. Only 5% expected to be able to sustain their operations for two years or more (UN Women, 2025b).
The most recent survey, published in July 2026, reached 855 organisations in 52 countries. It found that at least one million women and girls had lost access to support since January 2025. Eighty-four per cent of organisations reported higher demand for their services, 65% had staff working without pay and two in five expected to close, temporarily or permanently, within a year (UN Women, 2026).
Women’s funds are under pressure too
Women’s funds are the main source of money for feminist organisations, and they have been hit as well. According to the Prospera network, 78% of its members were affected by defunding, with confirmed losses of US$65.3 million and an expected average budget cut of 30% by 2026 (Prospera, 2025). Sixty-three per cent of Prospera members provide or plan bridge or emergency grants, and 29% are drawing on their reserves. These responses save organisations in the short term. They cannot replace the scale of official aid that has been lost.
Why francophone West Africa is hit harder
The global shock lands on a region that was already underfunded. International philanthropy concentrates on East Africa and on English-speaking organisations. A survey commissioned by the Agence française de développement found that 64.4% of feminist organisations had annual budgets under €50,000 and that 57% received no institutional funding at all (Groupe Egaé, 2022). At the same time, civic space is shrinking: five of the eight countries covered by the RFLD report are rated “repressed” by the CIVICUS Monitor.
France, the main bilateral partner of the region, has also stepped back. Its aid to women’s rights organisations fell from about US$105 million to US$30 million a year between 2022-2023 and 2023-2024, a fall of 71% (Focus 2030, 2026a). Its 2026 budget cuts development payment credits by 22% (Sénat, 2025).
RFLD felt the shock directly. In 2025 it lost US$1 million in planned funding for that year, and faced three project terminations after US funding stopped. Many of its member organisations lost more.
Key figures
- US$174.3 billion: DAC aid in 2025, down 23.1% in real terms.
- 56.9%: the fall in United States aid in 2025.
- 6.9%: the further fall projected for 2026, with bilateral aid to sub-Saharan Africa down 11.6%.
- One million: the minimum number of women and girls who lost access to support since January 2025.
What RFLD asks of funders
The report asks donors to direct the funding that remains to where it has the most effect. RFLD calls on bilateral donors and foundations to commit a defined share of their gender equality funding to francophone West Africa and to publish it every year. It asks for multi-year, flexible grants of at least three years, with core funding that lets organisations build reserves, and for resources channelled through intermediaries rooted in the region, including the West African Feminist Fund.
RFLD, for its part, commits to publishing its grants register every quarter so that the gap can be measured over time. The next articles in this series look at how little aid reaches women’s rights organisations, how feminist organisations manage on a median budget of US$22,000 a year and what RFLD’s own grants in 2026 reveal.
About the report
This article draws on RFLD’s data report Funding Feminist Movements in Francophone West Africa: 2026 Data (RFLD/DR/2026/03), published on 4 October 2026. Read the summary of the report, download the English edition or the French edition. Sources cited in this article are listed in full in the report.
