Every data report has limits, and the best ones say so openly. Chapter 11 of RFLD’s 2026 data report, Funding Feminist Movements in Francophone West Africa, lists what the report could not measure and proposes a research agenda for 2027. These gaps matter. Without data, the funding gap facing women’s organisations in the region stays invisible, and funders can claim progress that no one can verify.
Definitions that do not match
Global figures on funding for women’s organisations come from OECD data as analysed by Focus 2030 and Equal Measures 2030. The two use different definitions and periods. Focus 2030 estimates that feminist organisations and movements received about US$784 million a year in 2023 and 2024. Equal Measures 2030 gives US$481 million a year for 2022 and 2023. Both show that a tiny share of aid reaches women’s organisations directly. Their figures cannot be added together, and the difference between them is a reminder of how much depends on definitions.
A survey without a method
FEMNET’s rapid survey of African feminist organisations, published in April 2026, found that 55% had no financial reserves and only 16% had reserves to keep working for a year. FEMNET did not publish its sample size or method. RFLD’s report therefore treats these figures as indicative. They are consistent with other evidence, yet they cannot carry the weight of a full study.
No data by language
No public dataset measures funding to women’s organisations by language area. This is perhaps the most important gap for francophone West Africa. Everyone working in the region knows that francophone organisations find it harder to access international funding. Without numbers, that knowledge remains anecdote, and donors are not held to account.
Missing country data
Several important figures could not be obtained for the report. The gender-related aid received by each of the eight countries requires a manual query of the OECD Creditor Reporting System. The number of registered women’s organisations per country is not published. The 2025 and 2026 envelopes of France’s Support Fund for Feminist Organisations were not available at the time of writing.
Evidence from funders about themselves
Most evidence on what works comes from funders evaluating their own practice. The strongest study of unrestricted funding, by the Center for Effective Philanthropy, concerns US$19 billion in gifts to organisations in the United States. Its transferability to West Africa is an assumption. Evidence on participatory grantmaking is thin: a review for the Paul Ramsay Foundation found only six academic papers on the subject. Independent evaluations specific to the region are still needed.
Four months of grant data
RFLD’s own grant data cover June to September 2026 only. Future editions of the report will cover full calendar years and include data on grant outcomes. RFLD commits to publishing its grants register every quarter, so that the evidence base grows over time.
The 2027 research agenda
To improve the evidence base, RFLD proposes five lines of research for 2027:
- Country data on gender-related aid, through a systematic query of the OECD Creditor Reporting System for the eight countries, covering disbursements under the women’s rights purpose code and the gender marker.
- A register of women’s organisations, prepared with the ministries in charge of women, with an estimate of the number of registered organisations and their budgets in each country.
- A francophone funding survey of feminist organisations in the eight countries, using AWID’s indicators so that results are comparable with global data.
- Independent evaluations of regranting and flexible funding in the region, including RFLD’s own programmes.
- A record of suspensions, dissolutions and funding restrictions affecting women’s organisations.
Why data is an advocacy tool
For RFLD, data on funding is a tool for accountability. A published figure can be tracked by parliaments and journalists. A donor that commits a share of its gender funding to francophone West Africa, and publishes it every year, can be held to that commitment. RFLD’s first recommendation to donors asks exactly this: commit a defined share and publish it annually, using the OECD purpose code for women’s rights organisations.
RFLD already runs the DƆNÙESÈ Data Center, which offers twelve open data tools on women’s rights in Africa, including the Maputo Barometer. The research agenda on funding builds on this experience. Partners interested in contributing data or funding the research can write to programs@rflgd.org.
Key figures
- 0: public datasets measuring funding to women’s organisations by language area.
- 4 months: the period covered by RFLD’s 2026 grant data.
- 6: academic papers on participatory grantmaking found by a review for the Paul Ramsay Foundation.
- 5: lines of research proposed by RFLD for 2027.
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, download the English edition or the French edition. Sources cited in this article are listed in full in the data report.
