Report on – 33rd IC Resolution 5: Women and leadership in the humanitarian action of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (33IC/19/R5) – U.K. Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Has your State/National Society/Institution incorporated the commitments contained in this resolution into the relevant strategic or operational plans?

The commitments are incorporated into:
Strategy
Policy

At the International, National, Local level

Explanation:

The United Kingdom (UK) recognises that when adequately supported, women-led and women’s rights organisations (WLO/WROs) play a critical role in securing women’s and girls’ rights in crisis settings. The UK’s Humanitarian Framework (2022), Women, Peace and Security National Action Plan (2023-2027), and International Women and Girls Strategy (2023-2030) commit the UK to support the work of grassroots WLO/WROs and to improve the meaningful participation of women as leaders in humanitarian action. The UK White Paper reiterates this commitment by stating that ‘’[the UK will] reinvigorate [its] approach to partnerships with women’s rights and other local organisations… [and] partner with national leaders, women’s groups and other experts, to test and scale-up creative ways to drive forward change’’.

In 2023, the UK continued to support WLO/WROs to play a leadership role in humanitarian crises. Through the Pooled Fund Working Group, the UK continued to advocate for greater utilisation of local and national capacities, including WLO, within humanitarian country-based pooled funds (CBPFs) managed by United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). This resulted in the new CBPF Global Guidance (May 2023) recommending that local WLO/WROs should be included in CBPF governance structures. The UK also provided $125 million (circa £98 million) to CBPFs in 2023, which play a key role in funding local organisations such as WLO/WROs. 

The UK also made a series of funding announcements to improve funding to women-led and women’s rights organisations in conflict and crises. This included: £33 million of grant funding for WROs through the Equality Fund, designed to strengthen grassroots WROs and movements, including in conflict and crisis; £18 million (over 4 years) to the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women (UNTF) to provide long-term support to WROs to tackle gender-based violence (GBV), including those representing the most marginalised women and girls, such as those in crises settings and an additional £2 million for the UNTF‘s special window, to support grassroots organisations working to address GBV in conflict settings, including WLOs and Refugee WLOs; £750,000 in flexible grants to WROs in South Sudan, Yemen and Nigeria through the UK’s Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF). 

Ahead of the Global Refugee Forum, the UK produced and disseminated new research: ‘Refugee Women-led Organisations on the Frontline of Addressing GBV’. The UK co-led (along with the Call to Action on Protection from GBV in Emergencies, Germany, Australia, Chile, and the Action Network on Forced Displacement) a multi-stakeholder pledge on gender equality and protection from GBV which included a focus on facilitating the meaningful participation of refugee WLOs. The UK Delegation to the Forum included two refugee women, who acted as formal policy advisers to the UK. The UK continued to play an active role in the Call to Action to galvanise international efforts for improved response to GBV, including support to women-led organisations. In 2023, the UK was instrumental in securing and organising a high-level roundtable with Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Principals, key donors and representatives of WLOs. This resulted in renewed commitments by UN Agencies to strengthen WLO/WROs involvement in humanitarian decision-making and to improve funding for and partnerships with WLO/WROs.

Additionally, the UK engaged across at least eight major humanitarian crises to increase funding for WLO/WROs, to advocate for their participation in humanitarian decision-making and to support more equitable partnerships. This included in Yemen where the UK championed the systematic and meaningful participation of WLOs in the UN Humanitarian Country Team (HCT). In Ukraine, the UK provided £2 million to the Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF) to provide flexible funding to WLO/WROs and £1.56 million to the Ukrainian Women’s Fund to support regional coalitions of WLO/WROs in 19 regions of Ukraine. In northeast Nigeria, the UK is funding a two-year £4.5 million project to tackle GBV and strengthen protection services. The project is piloting CARE’s Women Lead in Emergencies (WLiE) approach. This gender-transformative approach addresses barriers to women’s voice and leadership in their lives and their communities. It challenges how humanitarian actors and local governments support women and girls’ rights to have their needs met and their voices heard. The programme supports crisis-affected women in community groups to understand the gendered power dynamics and supports them to take collective action on issues of priority to them. Women are stepping forward to demand roles for women in male-dominated local councils, supporting girls’ education, advocating for equal opportunities for income generative activities and GBV and SRH services in their communities, and raising awareness on GBV. Through funding from the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI), WROs have delivered assistance to survivors of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) globally, including legal aid in South Sudan.

We are setting a new gold standard internationally through our approach to ensuring survivors and children born of CRSV are able to shape the decisions that affect them. In 2019, we appointed Nadine Tunasi a courageous survivor of CRSV as PSVI Survivor Champion and, in 2022, we also established the Survivor Advisory Group, which helps shape PSVI decisions, including co-creating the PSVI Conference. Five survivors presented their key recommendations for action at the PSVI International Alliance meeting in October 2023, putting our commitment to meaningful survivor engagement into action.

Has your State/National Society/Institution been working with other partners to implement the commitments contained in this resolution?

Partner with:
Humanitarian and development partners (e.g. UN, NGOs etc.)

Examples of cooperation:

United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): The UK supports OCHA-managed humanitarian country-based pooled funding mechanisms which are at the forefront of directing humanitarian funding to local organisations, including WLO/WROs.

The UK established a new £38m global programme for Advancing Gender Equality through support to Women’s Rights Organisations and Women’s Movements. This programme provides core, multiyear grant support, delivered in partnership with the Equality Fund, with one funding stream specifically focused on crisis response. A second component to amplify the voices of WROs in key decision-making and policy processes will be taken forward through the Women of the South Speak Out consortium led by Gender Links. The programme (2022 – 2027) will strengthen grassroots WROs and movements, including in conflict and crisis. In the 2023-2024 financial year, 25 grants were provided through the Equality Fund’s Crisis funding stream to support WLO/WROs to respond to a range of crises, including the Turkey/Syria earthquake, flooding in Pakistan, drought in Kenya and the conflicts in Gaza, Myanmar, Ukraine and Sudan.

The Women and Girls Wilton Park Series, launched as part of the UK Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s International Women and Girls Strategy (2023-2030) aims to create space to interrogate and build consensus around how to effectively tackle priority issues that are central to women and girls’ rights, freedom and potential.

As part of this series in February 2024, the UK, in partnership with the Equality Fund and Ford Foundation, convened a dialogue on WROs in humanitarian crises. The event brought together 55 participants from 30 countries, and across WLO/WROs, women’s funds, donors, philanthropy, INGOs and UN agencies to address the critical issue of WRO access to quality resourcing and support to their leadership in times of humanitarian crises.

The Call to Action on Protection from GBV in Emergencies (GBV Call to Action) and the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC): The UK continued to play an active role in the GBV Call to Action to galvanise international efforts for improved response to GBV, including support to women-led organisations. Together with the GBV Call to Action, the UK co-led (along with Germany, Australia, Chile, and the Action Network on Forced Displacement) a multi-stakeholder pledge on gender equality and protection from GBV at the Global Refugee Forum.  In 2023, the UK was also instrumental in securing and organising a high-level roundtable with IASC Principals, key donors and representatives of WLOs. This resulted in renewed commitments by UN Agencies to strengthen WLO/WROs involvement in humanitarian decision-making and to improve funding for and partnerships with WLO/WROs.

UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women (UNTF): The UK announced new support to the UNTF (£18 million over 4 years) and an additional £2 million for the UNTF‘s special window to address GBV in conflict settings. This is in addition to the £25.5 million the UK has contributed to the UNTF since 2014.

Women Peace and Humanitarian Fund and the Ukraine Women’s Fund: The UK provided £2 million to the Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF) to provide flexible funding to WLO/WROs in Ukraine and £1.56 million to the Ukrainian Women’s Fund to support regional coalitions of WLO/WROs in 19 regions of Ukraine.

CARE: The UK is funding CARE to pilot their Women Lead in Emergencies (WLiE) approach in Nigeria.

Have you encountered any challenges in implementing the commitments contained in this resolution?

With challenges on:
Funding constraints
Other

Details about challenges:

The global rollback on women’s rights and freedoms around the world undermines efforts to strengthen women’s leadership in humanitarian action. Opposition to women’s and girls’ rights has always existed, but we are now witnessing far greater, better-organised, trans-national momentum to finance and accelerate the erosion of these rights. This is occurring at the local, national, regional and multilateral levels, as well as online and through digital technologies. This is of particular concern in many of the current crisis settings.

Have the commitments contained in this resolution had an impact on the work and direction of your State/National Society/Institution?

Type of Impact:
Partnerships with other humanitarian actors have been created or enhanced

Details about the impact:

Partnerships with other humanitarians, as well as with women and feminist funds, have been created and enhanced.

Have the commitments contained in this resolution had an impact on the communities that your State/National Society/Institution serves?

Description of the impact:

The UK directly and indirectly funds local women’s organisations responding to crises, this has a direct impact on the communities in which they work and strengthens the leadership of women and women-led organisations in humanitarian crises. Specifically, UK efforts across at least 8 crises has ensured that women-led organisations have better access to funding, more equitable partnerships and leadership opportunities.