BY Sachini Perera

What does movement building look like for resource justice?

As a transnational collective that has for nearly 15 years tried to challenge conventional ways of feminist organizing as well as siloed framings of sexual and reproductive health and rights, RESURJ has constantly been aware of — and affected by — the politics of funding, and tried to engage with it in various ways. We’ve long resisted being checked into boxes we don’t belong in, figuratively but also literally because we’re always faced with checklists that don’t have the imagination to be open to how we organize (transnational, cross-regional), our form (collective), our feminist accountability practices, etc. Our economic justice approach to sexual and reproductive rights recognizes the faultlines in the symbiotic relationship between how movements get funded (whether it is Official Development Aid (ODA), private philanthropy or intermediaries who move money) and the structural inequalities inherent in neoliberal macroeconomic policies (that keep the global south in an endless cycle of debt and allow unchecked accumulation of wealth). And our own complicities in maintaining these systems and so called “reputation laundering”. 

We’ve also met along the way funders who — within those faultlines — have spent time getting to know these things, co-conspire ways to support us without forcing us into those boxes, build trust, and practice mutual accountability. And as RESURJ approaches our 15th birthday, we’re increasingly discussing what sustainability means to us, how to avoid “donor dependency” while also challenging assumptions behind the concept, and how to dream and plan long-term on grants that are not as ambitious. We’re sitting with the bodily, mental and material costs to us and our communities and movements of belonging when we are forced to stay in the awkward and unjust dance of raising funds in these colonial and imperialist funding ecosystems (that our Reflections contributors discuss in open, vulnerable and powerful ways). We’re observing feminist formations being defunded for their political integrity, we’re observing the visible and invisible hands of those who actually hold power to make decisions in funding institutions and those who are fighting for incremental and seismic change within them.

All to say, the feminist funding ecosystem is complex, messy and interconnected, and in the last few years, we’ve had the opportunity to learn more about it through the Alliance for Feminist Movements, a multistakeholder initiative that brings together governments, private philanthropy, feminist funds and feminist civil society on the fundamental premise to increase political and financial support for feminist movements. Coming into our second year in the steering group of the Alliance representing feminist civil society (along with APWLD and Mujeres Transformando), here are a few questions and observations from RESURJ about our own learning curve. 

• What does movement building look like for resource justice? While feminist civil society groups have been part of resourcing and resource justice conversations and related advocacy spaces, it is always a handful of the same organizations who are invited into these spaces. Most often they are international organizations and consortiums who have mandates and teams around resourcing and while they’ve done seminal work and made critical inroads, it is clear that as with how feminists build power around any other issues we work on, here too we need a movement building approach. Ways for those of us working locally and nationally — most often without the luxury of core and long term funding — to also consistently get involved in these conversations and to be invited into these spaces with accompaniment and road maps. 

• Power is always part of the equation. Initiatives like the Alliance have introduced opportunities for those of us in movements to interact with funders outside of our usual interactions around applying for and making grants. This is important and empowering but also doesn’t exist in a vacuum so whether it’s a bilateral donor or a private fund or a feminist fund, we still find ourselves being conscious of past, existing and potential relationships. For example, the Alliance brought these different groups of funders together with feminist civil society in various in-person and virtual spaces and the latter would worry about reprisals and power dynamics. So if we are to be effective in advocating for resource justice, we need to first acknowledge the elephant in the room and then be creative in how we have these conversations with full and fearless participation from movements (something our Reflections contributors reflected on while writing their pieces, some choosing to use a pseudonym and some having no choice but to self censor).   

• We need to raise political consciousness about funding. The feminist funding ecosystem contains many different actors and if we’re to be strategic and effective in our advocacy to them, we need more knowledge and political analysis about the different sub-groups these actors belong to, what each of them are doing well and where there could be changes or complete revamping, how decision-making happens within these institutions and how we can support those rallying for change internally, and how to sharpen our advocacy messages around resourcing so that they are both visionary but also actionable and specific. 

These were some of our considerations in dedicating this edition of Reflections on Our Countries to funding for feminist movements. We wanted it to be a platform for younger Global South feminists to enter the resourcing conversation or for those already engaged in it to keep pushing their political analysis further. And we’re incredibly proud of the rich compendium of contributions that we’re publishing and the collective power of the analysis our contributors have put forward, even as some of them wondered what the consequences might be. 

RESURJ member Oriana Lopez from Mexico writes a powerful reflection that pushes us to be more critical, self reflective and accountable on money and movements. “Let us stop accepting money as if there were not enough in the world, let us set clear limits, let us negotiate, weave networks for others, share contacts, speak well of others, understand and value the diversity of strategies, and recognize that the achievements are collective and have taken generations of feminists.” Pame Martin Gracia of Vecinas Feministas also adds to this, calling to attention what she refers to as  the “toxic crush” feminist movements and funders have on each other. As Pamela Martín García reminds us, “we do not talk about financial education enough,” and if we are to fight the fight for sexual and reproductive justice and comprehensive sexuality education, we cannot make light of this issue.  

Cate Nyambura and Mamello Sejake of the Athena Network write a joint reflection on the urgent need to decolonise funding — but also what that can actually look like in practice. Florence/Khaxas of Y-Fem Namibia takes us further on this journey, sharing Y-Fem’s explorations and experiments with autonomous resourcing. “As a feminist human rights organization, creating autonomous alternative funding streams is a political act of resistance in this capitalist economy that harms us and our planet.”

RESURJ members Shubha Kayastha and Sibusiso Malunga had an in-depth, in-person conversation about their respective experiences and observations around funding in Nepal and Zambia and the sensitive topics around donor relationships and asking for money that still need to be addressed. We share snippets from it as a Reflection. “How can I ensure that I can do this work safely and still have a livelihood at the end of the day? It feels like we have all adopted the mindset that the less we demand for ourselves, the better it is for the project,” reflects Sibusiso at one point. And RESURJ member Mangia Macuacua reflects on the specificities of the challenges Lusaphone feminists in Mozambique face. We also have Sapphire Alexander from Trinidad and Tobago reflecting on the specificities of another underrepresented group, Caribbean feminist movements, and the hierarchies that the current funding ecosystem reinforces.

“So maybe the aftermath of October 7 came at the perfect time to push us to reflect  on the feminist landscape as a whole, and to try to reorganize it, at least, in a way that can live up to  its slogans on fighting discrimination and workplace violations,  the fair redistribution of  wealth, and the importance of humane working conditions to ensure a decent living”, says Algerian-French feminist Imene Emara who in her reflection imagines the potential of a “Feminist Monetary Fund” and the power of taking resourcing into our own hands.

SuRooh (pseudonym) reflects on the funding ecosystem in India and that democratizing access to resources is intrinsically intertwined with “reshaping the very structures that determine resource allocation”. And last but not least we have Jeevika Shiv and Maitree Muzumdar from India go deeper into this analysis. They note that “the global funder must brave the face of trust-based, flexible and participatory funding, and refrain from the current practices of centering the elite urban technocrat and project consultant, who suddenly becomes grassroots enough while feminist movements and people-led agendas and initiatives remain silenced, targeted and invisibilized. This disproportionately affects human rights defenders (HRDs) and grassroots activists, while benefiting those operating within traditional Brahminical feminist institutions and consultancy models.”

We hope you enjoy diving into this edition and come up for air as we organize a follow up conversation with some of the contributors as part of our Postscript series.