Funding feminist movements in francophone West Africa: three findings

Why this data matters now

On 4 October 2026, RFLD published Funding Feminist Movements in Francophone West Africa: 2026 Data. The report covers eight countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo. It brings together OECD figures, surveys of feminist organisations, donor budget documents and RFLD’s own grants register.

Feminist organisations in our region have long said that funding rarely reaches them. This report puts numbers on that experience. Each figure below is traced to a public source, listed at the end of this article.

The report builds on a conversation RFLD opened in April 2025 with Resourcing feminist movements in francophone West Africa: What next? Since then, the funding landscape has changed fast. Several donors have cut their aid budgets. Civic space in the Sahel has narrowed further. The 2026 report is our attempt to measure these changes with care, so that funders and governments can act on evidence.

Finding one: the aid shock is deep

Official development assistance from OECD donors fell by a record 23.1% in 2025, according to preliminary OECD data reported by the IISD. The OECD projects a further fall of 6.9% in 2026. Bilateral aid to sub-Saharan Africa is projected to drop by 11.6%.

The effects are already visible. In July 2026, UN Women published a survey of 855 organisations in 52 countries. It found that at least one million women and girls had lost access to critical support. Two in five organisations expected to close within a year.

This was not the first warning. In October 2025, UN Women reported that one in three organisations had suspended or shut down programmes on ending violence against women because of funding cuts. Sexual and reproductive health services are hit as well. The International Planned Parenthood Federation found that 1,175 of the 1,394 service points its member associations had closed were in Africa.

Intermediary funders are under strain as well. The Global Philanthropy Project surveyed 29 of them in July 2025. Fifteen had cut their regranting budgets since 2024, by 25% on average.

Closer to home, the cuts touch French-speaking partners directly. The French Senate’s report on the 2026 budget shows payment credits for Programme 209, France’s main development aid line, falling by 22%. Commitments under the same programme fall by 35.4%.

Finding two: feminist organisations work on very little

Women’s rights organisations receive between US$481 million and US$784 million a year, depending on the definition used. Focus 2030 puts this at about 1% of gender-related aid. Equal Measures 2030 puts it at less than 0.2% of all aid.

AWID’s 2025 report, Where is the Money?, shows what this means for each organisation. The median feminist organisation worked with US$22,000 in 2023. Core funding covers 30% of budgets on average. Most grants are short, and 72% of organisations report average grant durations of 18 months or less. If external funding stopped, 64% could operate for less than six months.

Behind these figures are activists who keep services open on goodwill. AWID found that 81% of organisations rely on autonomous resourcing, such as volunteering, in-kind support, mutual aid, community fundraising and membership fees. For 29%, these resources are their main way of sustaining their work.

The francophone picture is similar. A 2022 study by Groupe Egaé, commissioned by the Agence française de développement, surveyed 1,422 feminist organisations in the Global South. It found that 64.4% had annual budgets under €50,000, and 57% had no institutional funding at all.

Finding three: francophone West Africa faces a double gap

Francophone organisations feel the global squeeze. They also face cuts from their closest partners. Focus 2030 reports that France’s aid to women’s rights organisations fell by 71% between 2022-2023 and 2023-2024.

Money that does reach the continent often stays with organisations based elsewhere. The Human Rights Funders Network found that 27% of human rights funding for sub-Saharan Africa went to organisations outside the region. An Oak Foundation scoping report found that more than 58% of funds intended for Africa still pass through Western intermediaries.

The trend is moving in the right direction, but slowly. The same Oak Foundation report found that African organisations received between 6% and 14% of philanthropy for Africa over 2010 to 2019. That share rose to 57% in 2022 and 56% in 2023. Even so, Myriad USA reports that African-led organisations receive less than 2% of global philanthropy. Flexibility is rare too. Only 13% of direct human rights grants for sub-Saharan Africa were flexible, according to the Human Rights Funders Network.

Language is part of the problem. The report finds that funders tend to focus on English-speaking and East African initiatives. Calls for proposals in English, and reporting in English, keep many French-speaking groups out before they even apply.

Civic space is closing

In October 2026, the CIVICUS Monitor rated five of the eight countries as repressed:

• Niger, with a score of 32;
• Togo and Guinea, both at 29;
• Mali, at 26;
• Burkina Faso, at 25.

The other three were rated obstructed. Côte d’Ivoire scored 53 and Benin 49. Senegal scored 47 after an upgrade in December 2025.

In Niger, the authorities said about 2,900 of 4,700 registered NGOs were suspended in 2025, as reported by Africanews. In Burkina Faso, the CIVICUS Monitor counted at least 1,174 organisations suspended or dissolved by June 2026. Each closure leaves a survivor of violence, or a woman from Vulnerable Groups, with one less place to turn.

What the evidence says works

The report reviews what is known about funding that strengthens movements. The strongest evidence supports flexible, multi-year funding delivered through regional intermediaries that know the context.

West Africa already has examples. The Initiative Sankofa d’Afrique de l’Ouest (ISDAO) awarded US$2.5 million in 129 grants in 2023. Of that, 55% went to francophone countries, and 77% of grants were renewals. Renewals matter, because they let organisations plan beyond a single project.

Demand far exceeds supply. Between 2016 and 2018, Mama Cash could fund only about 3% of eligible applicants, according to a 2020 study co-published by AWID. Public funds can help close part of this gap. The Agence française de développement’s Fonds de soutien aux organisations féministes approved €194 million between 2020 and 2023. In 2024, it approved €60 million, with 65% for Africa.

Unrestricted money also shows results. Research by the Center for Effective Philanthropy found that large, unrestricted gifts create sustained impact for the organisations that receive them. Core funding lets a small organisation keep its staff, protect its people and plan ahead.

What RFLD’s grants register shows

RFLD also funds feminist organisations directly, and we publish what we give. According to RFLD’s grants register, RFLD awarded 17 grants worth a total of US$322,100 between June and September 2026. The average grant was US$18,947.

The largest share, US$179,600, went to nine institutional strengthening sub-grants under the SEA-T programme funded by BMZ and GIZ. These nine grants total €160,000, converted at the European Central Bank rate of 2 October 2026 (1 EUR = 1.1225 USD). They run for six months, from 15 October 2026 to 14 April 2027. Digital rights grants added US$92,000 across three organisations. Five direct grants to partners, convenings and community media made up the remaining US$50,500.

The register lists the country of each grant. On that basis, 13 of the 17 grants support work in francophone West Africa, for a total of US$282,100. That is about 88% of the money awarded. The remaining four grants, worth US$40,000, went to work in The Gambia and Kenya, and to continental or regional initiatives.

The register also shows where we have not yet reached. Grants in this period supported work in Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo. None went to an organisation in Burkina Faso or Guinea, two of the countries where civic space is most restricted. We will report on this gap in future editions.

This is why the report asks for distinct approaches in the Sahel. Where organisations face suspension, funders may need to support informal groups or organisations working from exile. Reporting must also change, so that grant documents do not expose activists to risk.

A note on the figures

The grant figures in this article come from RFLD’s grants register, which lists each grant with its amount, purpose and country. Euro amounts are converted at the European Central Bank rate of 2 October 2026. A grant counts as francophone West African when the register names one or more of the eight countries covered by the report. Grants marked as continental or regional are counted outside this group, even when some of their work reaches francophone countries.

Our commitments

The report sets out public commitments:

• We will publish our grants register every quarter, with amounts and purposes.
• At least half of each regranting programme will stay in francophone West Africa.
• Every grant will come with organisational strengthening through the RFLD Suite.
• We will publish this data report every year.

What we ask of funders

• Commit to a share of gender funding for francophone West Africa, and publish it every year using OECD purpose code 15170.
• Give flexible grants of at least three years, with core funding that allows organisations to build reserves.
• Fund through regional intermediaries, including RFLD’s West African Feminist Fund (WAFF) and national women’s funds, and cover their operating costs.
• Accept applications and reports in French, and pay for translation and interpretation.
• Design distinct approaches for the Sahel and for coastal states, including support for informal groups and organisations in exile.
• Assess legal and security risks with grantees before you fund, and adapt reporting to protect them.

What we ask of governments in the region

Governments have a role too. We ask them to create national funding windows for women’s organisations, with transparent criteria and annual reports. They should also protect civic space, so that organisations can register and receive funds safely. Article 26(2) of the Maputo Protocol commits States to budget adequate resources for women’s rights. Governments should implement it and publish what they spend.

About RFLD

RFLD brings together 1,143 member organisations in more than 35 African countries. We hold Observer Status with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (N° 553). We know what steady funding makes possible. Read the full report, explore our Africa Grant Portfolio, and find more data in our resources and publications.

References

1. RFLD (2026, 4 October). Funding Feminist Movements in Francophone West Africa: 2026 Data. https://rflgd.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/rfld-funding-feminist-movements-francophone-west-africa-2026-data-final.pdf
2. RFLD (2026). RFLD sub-grantees: Grants register, June to September 2026. https://rflgd.org/rfld-subgrantees
3. IISD SDG Knowledge Hub (2026). ODA in historic decline: Latest OECD data. https://sdg.iisd.org/news/oda-in-historic-decline-latest-oecd-data/
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9. Equal Measures 2030 (2025). Redefining risk: The cost of not funding women’s rights organisations. https://equalmeasures2030.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Redefining-Risk-The-Cost-of-Not-Funding-Womens-Rights-Organisations.pdf
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20. UN Women (2025, 27 October). One in three organizations have suspended or shut down programmes on ending violence against women due to funding cuts [Press release]. https://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/press-release/2025/10/one-in-three-organizations-have-suspended-or-shut-down-programmes-on-ending-violence-against-women-due-to-funding-cuts
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22. Myriad USA (2026, 19 May). Philanthropic deserts in West and francophone Africa: A conversation with Gates Foundation and Segal Family Foundation. https://myriadusa.org/philanthropic-deserts-in-west-and-francophone-africa-a-conversation-with-gates-foundation-and-segal-family-foundation/
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26. Agence française de développement (2026). Fonds de soutien aux organisations féministes : notre activité 2024. https://www.afd.fr/sites/default/files/2026-02/afd_post_fsof_1350x1080_web.pdf
27. Center for Effective Philanthropy (2025, 18 February). Research shows MacKenzie Scott’s large, unrestricted gifts create sustained impact for nonprofits and communities [Press release]. https://cep.org/news/press-releases/research-shows-mackenzie-scotts-large-unrestricted-gifts-create-sustained-impact-for-nonprofits-and-communities/
28. African Union. Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol), Article 26(2). See the RFLD Maputo Protocol Hub: https://rflgd.org/maputo-protocol/