GFW | Newsletter | August 2005 | Sustaining Women's Movements Into the Future

WOMEN'S FUNDS

by Ana María Enríquez, Program Officer for the Americas

After 18 years of uninterrupted grantmaking in Latin America and the Caribbean, where the Global Fund has supported 800 organizations with more than $12.8 million, we recognized that it was time to reflect on our collective experience with our sisters in the region.

Global Fund board members, staff, donors,
grantees and advisors at the Latin American
and Caribbean advisors meeting.

The Global Fund and our Chilean sister fund, Colectivo Alquimia (Alchemy Collective), held the first Latin American and Caribbean advisory meeting this past April in Santiago, Chile. During the gathering, we reviewed the history of our grantmaking, examined the current situation facing women in the region, and looked forward to new alliances.

A remarkable group of board members, staff, donors, grantees and Latin American and Caribbean advisors from 12 countries discussed issues such as violence against women, women in conflict, the importance of advancing women's reproductive rights and how best to combat homophobia. They also helped the Global Fund to set priorities for the future by recommending that special attention be paid to Colombia and Haiti—two countries dominated by conflict, poverty and pervasive violence against women. According to the World Health Organization, 40 percent of Haitian women between the ages of 15 and 49 have no access to contraception, and 27 percent have experienced physical violence of some kind. Women are particularly vulnerable to maternal mortality, preventable infectious diseases and sexually transmitted infections, which contribute to the highest mortality rate on the continent. Colombia is undergoing what Human Rights Watch calls the "the most dire human rights situation in the western hemisphere." The country's civil war, now over 40 years old, has forced two million people from their homes, the majority of whom are women and children.

Mapuche Indian women opened the Latin American and Caribbean advisors meeting
with a ceremony.

Participants at the meeting strategize about how to preserve and advance women's rights in the face of rising ultraconservatism and neo-liberalism. They also discussed how to develop new means of support, given a devastating exodus of traditional sources of funding. Advisors emphasized that the key to true feminist social change is the ability of women's organizations to maintain autonomy in decision-making and implement their own solutions to pressing problems. As such, the growth of women's funds in the region, such as Colectivo Alquimia, is crucial. Alquimia, like the Global Fund, is redefining existing notions of philanthropy by supporting small grassroots organizations in Chile and building a movement of "women that trust and believe in other women." Most of Alquimia's individual donors are from Chile and include activists, doctors, lawyers, policymakers, domestic workers and Alquimia's own staff. Alquimia is not alone. Semillas, the women's fund in Mexico, has created a network of over 200 women donors (just three years ago there were only three women!) who are investing in projects to advance women's rights in a country abandoned by most major donors. Other women's funds in the region include the Angela Borba Fund in Brazil, and the Central American Women's Fund based in Nicaragua.

The Global Fund stands more committed than ever to true solidarity with women in this region, and is honored to partner with our advisors, grantees, and sister women's funds as we create a more just and equitable future for women in the Americas and around the world.