Support Feminist Activists Around the World

Urgent Action Fund for Feminist Activism (Urgent Action Fund) is deeply grateful for the partnership of GlobalGiving.Your support contributed to vital efforts to build the resilience of feminist movements around the world. We are pleased to submit a final report on our organizational work from 2024-2025. This includes key updates on: Grantmaking, Advancing Disability Justice, and Resourcing Collective Care Infrastructure.

 Landscape Analysis: Over the last year, Urgent Action Fund continued to resource feminist movements in Canada, Central Asia, Europe, the Middle East, the Balkans, the Caucasus, and the United States to sustain feminist organizing and respond to the needs of marginalized communities—LGBTQI+ people, Black and Indigenous groups, the disabled community, sex workers, migrants, women, and children. The past year has seen intensifying threats to feminist activists and movements across regions. Authoritarian governments and far-right actors are aggressively pursuing laws and policies to erode human rights, criminalize activism and protest, and foster a culture of hate and violence towards women and LGBTQI+ people.

Grantmaking: Currently, Urgent Action Fund has issued 468 grants in 2025, with additional grantmaking expected through the end of the year. These grants have supported our grantee partners who are driving critical movements for democracy and climate, racial, and gender justice in all of the regions we support. Here some key initiatives that your funding contributed over the last year:

Supporting Democracy and Movement Protection in the U.S.: Over the last year, Urgent Action Fund has seen increased requests from activists who are leading grassroots movements without the protection of a political home; groups defending democracy who are facing political backlash; intersecting immigrant and migrant justice groups attempting to show up for communities that are dealing with ICE raids and violence across the country; and an uptick in requests for security, movement protection, and relocation supports. In response, we have prioritized the provision of safety and security grants, along with holistic wellbeing resources, to help frontline activists navigate the backlash resulting from their activism and support their ability to sustain their critical work.

Bolstering Locally-Rooted Crisis Response in Ukraine: As the context in Ukraine shifts, we have expanded our Ukraine Crisis Response beyond humanitarian relief to intentionally prioritize feminist movements rebuilding local infrastructure. We paid particular attention to supporting newly formed grassroots initiatives led by rural women organizers, who play a crucial (and often underfunded) role in their communities. We also strengthened our response to the crisis in Ukraine through the development of the Ukraine Feminist Hubs Initiative. In partnership with regional feminist organizations, we established decentralized "hubs" that distribute resources at a hyper-local level, helping to strengthen local infrastructures and address the crisis on the ground.

Advancing Disability Justice: Urgent Action Fund is actively deepening our learning and advocacy related to disability justice. In 2022, we partnered with Women Enabled International (WEI) on an assessment that mapped disability justice movements and identified the key priorities, strategies, challenges, and movement capacities of feminist activists in Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Yemen, Iraq, and countries in Eastern Europe. In 2024, Urgent Action Fund and WEI supported activists to co-produce research that foregrounded their own experiences and strategies. The findings were shared at two major global spaces: the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) and the AWID International Forum. In both venues, disability justice activists directly addressed funders and policymakers, demanding that resourcing shift toward community-led movements. The momentum continued into 2025 with the launch of Activists from Strength, an interactive report synthesizing three years of research and advocacy.

Sustaining Activism Through Collective Care Infrastructure: Through our grantmaking, we help activists and organizations build and sustain collective care practices and infrastructure. We fund efforts to support feminist movements through crisis, conflict, and threats, while ensuring the wellbeing of their communities. For example, Urgent Action Fund launched a Collective Care and Safety Cohort in the United States. The cohort has dreams of building long-term collective care infrastructure through developing alternative systems of care and safety, reclaiming land and space for healing and respite, and deepening the bench of transformative justice practitioners in the movement ecosystem. In the long-run, investing in collective care positions movements to be better able to weather crises, care for themselves and one another, and sustain activism.

Grantmaking Examples: Some of our recent grantees are listed below. For their safety, their identities have been anonymized.

A Black transgender safety network and safe house in the southern U.S. that mobilizes the trans community through deep relationship-building, political education, and statewide mutual aid organizing. With the escalation of attacks on trans communities due to the current political environment, Urgent Action Fund provided a grant to support security infrastructure upgrades for their safe house, conduct safety planning and improve their digital security, and provide stipends for safety network coordinators.

An organization in Serbia that is improving the lives of women and marginalized communities, including rural families and people with disabilities. The group found that mothers of children with disabilities lack access to holistic care and face isolation and stigma. With Urgent Action Fund support, the group organized community workshops, advocacy actions, and public discussions on health system gaps, budget priorities, and environmental links to rising disability rates. The initiative mobilized local activists, volunteers, and families to demand disability rights and social inclusion.

A long-time women’s rights and environmental activist in Ukraine who has been displaced by the war and is now caring for an elderly parent while struggling with housing insecurity and financial hardship. Continued bombardment has made it unsafe to return home, while the loss of employment and the rising cost of living have further worsened her situation. In response, we are providing support so the activist can secure safe housing, cover the cost of utilities, and access basic necessities. In turn, the activist can now focus on restoring stability, maintaining her well-being, and continuing to engage in human rights work.

A gender justice organization in Albania. Urgent Action Fund’s support enabled the group to train more than 500 women and girls about online threats and digital violence, where to seek support if they experienced online abuse, and how to report it. The organization felt it was critical to raise awareness and push for action following the suicides of several women who were victims of digital violence. With the country’s penal code coming under review, the organization submitted recommendations for legal provisions to address online abusers. In the process, they engaged local and national officials, and influenced other civil society groups to take up advocacy.

Lessons Learned: The tolls of dealing with political repression, conflict, and environmental disaster are apparent. Frontline activists across regions are contending with burnout, physical exhaustion, trauma, and displacement, all against a backdrop of funding cuts and rising costs. Top lessons from this period include:

Increased Need for Physical and Mental Health Support: We have seen an increase in requests related to activist health (including treatment for chronic conditions, access to essential medication, and urgent health procedures), mental health, and psychosocial support. It is evident that addressing individual health is vital for sustaining activism. Without the proper care, activists cannot remain engaged in their movements.

Movement Protection is a Top Priority: As mentioned, feminist activists and groups are facing escalating attacks ranging from physical violence and harassment to doxxing and digital surveillance. In turn, requests for movement protection have surged, making safety and security grantmaking a core focus of the year. We will continue to increase our commitments to helping grantees strengthen their physical and digital security.

Final Reflection: On behalf of all of us at Urgent Action Fund for Feminist Activism, we are deeply grateful for the partnership of GlobalGiving. Your continued support has made an invaluable contribution to the strength and resilience of frontline feminists advancing critical movements for disability, racial, gender, and climate justice. Amid a challenging funding landscape and the many obstacles facing feminist movements, your support has ensured that flexible, responsive resources reached vulnerable communities and addressed the urgent needs of women, trans, and nonbinary activists in a holistic way. Thank you for your trust and partnership in sustaining this vital work.