Grassroots organisations at the forefront of the fight for gender justice have consistently been the most heavily hit by funding cuts during the pandemic, despite increasing donor commitments toward gender equality. This comes at a time when gender rights issues including violence against women and girls, are increasingly being reported as emerging concerns due to the pandemic.

According to a survey published today of over 200 Women Rights Organisations (WROs) across 38 countries, a third of them have had to lay off between one to as many as 10 members of staff. Eighteen have had to close altogether.

The survey, Impact of COVID-19 on Women Rights Organisations: A Call for Global Alliance to Support Women Rights Organisations, was done by Oxfam with WROs across the Global South and allies in the Global North. It found that one in every three women’s rights organisations say they have been left out of conversations and policy-making decisions on their country’s COVID response and recovery efforts because they were not considered to be key stakeholders.