For feminist organisations in francophone West Africa, France has long been the most important bilateral partner. It shares a language with the region, it runs a dedicated fund for feminist organisations and, until recently, it had one of the most ambitious gender targets of any donor. RFLD’s 2026 data report, Funding Feminist Movements in Francophone West Africa, shows how quickly this position has changed.
A 71% fall in one year
Between 2022-2023 and 2023-2024, French aid to women’s rights organisations fell from about US$105 million to US$30 million a year, a drop of 71% (Focus 2030, 2026a). This fall came before the large budget cuts of 2025 and 2026, which means that the current figure is likely to be lower still.
France also has a legal target: by 2025, 75% of its bilateral programmable aid should have gender equality as a principal or significant objective, and 20% as a principal objective. In 2024, the actual figures were 56% and 5% (Focus 2030, n.d.). The gap between commitment and practice was already wide before the cuts.
The 2026 budget
The French 2026 budget cuts development payment credits under Programme 209, the main line for development solidarity, by 22%, from €1,976.9 million to €1,541.9 million. Commitment authorisations fall by 35.4%, from €1,748.1 million to €1,130.0 million. Bilateral commitments fall by 52.4% and multilateral commitments by 74.5% (Sénat, 2025).
With bilateral commitments falling by more than half, funding for feminist organisations in the region is unlikely to hold at past levels.
The Support Fund for Feminist Organisations
France’s Support Fund for Feminist Organisations (Fonds de soutien aux organisations féministes, FSOF) was created in 2020 by the French foreign ministry and the Agence française de développement (AFD). It has been the largest dedicated source of bilateral funding for feminist organisations in francophone Africa.
Between 2020 and 2023, the FSOF approved €194 million and disbursed €110 million for more than 1,400 organisations in 75 countries, 68% of it in Africa (AFD, 2025a). In 2024, it approved €60 million and disbursed €56 million, with 65% going to Africa (AFD, 2026).
The outlook is less certain. The minutes of the FSOF steering committee of July 2025 refer to a constrained budgetary context and possible further cuts (AFD, 2025b). The 2025 and 2026 envelopes of the fund were not available at the time the RFLD report was written. It is reasonable to expect that the FSOF will not maintain its 2024 level.
Other francophone channels
Some francophone channels remain open. The Organisation internationale de la Francophonie fund “La Francophonie avec Elles” offers grants of €15,000 to €100,000 covering up to 80% of costs for up to 36 months. Its first five calls supported more than 300 initiatives reaching about 90,000 women in 34 francophone countries (CPCCAF, 2025). Its scale, however, is small compared with the French bilateral budget that is being withdrawn.
Why the French decision matters so much
Many international funders publish their calls only in English and expect proposals and reports in English. French funding has been one of the few large sources that francophone organisations could access in their working language. When it shrinks, the language gap described in the RFLD report becomes sharper. Organisations that never had the staff to write English proposals lose their main entry point to international funding.
The decline also comes at a moment of political tension between France and several Sahel governments. In countries such as Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, women’s organisations face both the loss of French funding and restrictions on foreign funding imposed by their own authorities.
France among the other donors
France is not the only donor stepping back, and other channels remain. Canada launched a renewed phase of its Women’s Voice and Leadership programme in Dakar in December 2025; its first phase in Senegal provided CAD 6.3 million for 20 organisations and 5 networks. The Netherlands launched a FemFocus programme for 2026 to 2030 with €209 million for Africa and the Middle East. Germany continues to fund the SEA-T programme, under which RFLD manages nine sub-grants in 2026 and 2027.
None of these programmes alone can replace French funding in the region. Together with women’s funds such as AWDF, ISDAO and the Urgent Action Fund Africa, they form the core of what remains. RFLD’s report argues that coordination between these funders, and a published share for francophone West Africa, would make the most of resources that are now limited.
Key figures
- 71%: the fall in French aid to women’s rights organisations between 2022-2023 and 2023-2024.
- 22%: the cut to development payment credits in the 2026 budget.
- €194 million: FSOF approvals between 2020 and 2023, for more than 1,400 organisations.
- 56% and 5%: France’s actual gender shares in 2024, against targets of 75% and 20%.
RFLD’s proposals
RFLD asks France to protect the FSOF and to publish its annual envelopes, so that organisations can plan. It also asks French and other donors to fund through intermediaries rooted in the region and working in French, such as RFLD’s West African Feminist Fund, AWDF and ISDAO, with funding for their own operations. Intermediaries of this kind can keep money flowing to small organisations even when large bilateral programmes close.
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.
