Catalyzing Next Generation Women's Leadership

Global Fund for Women is excited to step into a new decade with a bold, ambitious and expansive agenda for gender justice in partnership with you, our friends and supporters. Thank you for your steadfast solidarity, and for your investments in locally-informed feminist organizing. In particular, we appreciate your support over the past year to our Gucci CHIME FOR CHANGE partners—HER Fund in Hong Kong, ELAS Fund in Brazil, and Fondo Semillas in Mexico. With your funding, our partners advanced a critical strategic priority for social transformation: to mobilize, energize, and consolidate young feminist leadership—and thereby seed intergenerational movements for social change.

Our three partner funds advanced important initiatives to foster the leadership of young women, girls, and gender non-conforming people since our last project update three months ago. Global Fund for Women appreciates how each one of them sought to mainstream the voices and priorities of marginalized groups of youth through their efforts, and we highlight key activities in this update:

• HER Fund launched a new grant cycle to prevent violence against young women (aged 25 years and younger) and girls, including marginalized groups such as lesbians and women and girls from ethnic minority groups. HER Fund is also looking to scale its support to projects against cyber violence, which disproportionately impacts young women and girls.  
  
  
• ELAS Fund intentionally scaled its “Building Movements—Women in Movement” program to amplify the leadership of young women, girls, and gender non-conforming individuals. It funded groups that promoted self-care and the mental health of lesbian, bi-sexual, and trans (LBT) women and girls; helped prevent violence in relationships with LBT people; and is supporting a platform for young black women communicators to exchange experiences with each other and receive trainings through webinars.
  
  
• With funding from Fondo Semillas, Mexican grassroots organizations facilitated safe shelters, legal advice, and psychological and emotional support to migrant girls and adolescents from Central American countries. It also advanced its policy advocacy on obtaining legal gender identities for trans children in Mexico; supported trainings on feminist empowerment through dance and soccer sessions; and continued efforts to strengthen sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR) for young women and girls.

Global Fund for Women believes that when empowered young feminists rise up together, they break isolation, build solidarity, and strengthen movements that challenge social, economic, and political barriers to their voice and agency. And, as we get ready to take stock of the roads we have travelled together in the 25 years since the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in1995 as well as the challenging miles that still remain, we are doubling down on our investments in intergenerational movements. Mobilizing the leadership and partnership of young women and girls will ensure that Global Fund for Women's vision for gender justice results in change that transforms power and privilege for a few into equity and equality for all.

Links:

• Champions for Equality
• Speaking Truth to Power