The 69th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69) provided a significant opportunity for the global feminist movement to assess progress toward gender equality and women’s rights, confront setbacks, and chart a path forward, confronting global funding gaps in funding at the intersection of climate, conflict, and gender.

CSW remains a key platform for international dialogue on gender justice, but it also highlights the gaps between global commitments and the realities faced by women on the ground.

In this pivotal year, the Global Alliance for Green and Gender Action (GAGGA), the Equality Fund and the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) organised an event to explore the nexus of gender, climate and conflict.

The event showcased recent research by GAGGA (launched at CSW69) and the Equality Fund, both of which center the crucial but often overlooked perspectives of Global South feminist activists, particularly in Brazil, Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mozambique, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, and the Philippines.

Drawing on powerful case studies, GAGGA highlights how global feminist activism addresses the gendered impacts of crises through holistic, cross-movement strategies and actionable policy recommendations. Complementing this, the Equality Fund explores what a feminist crisis response looks like—how crises are defined, how feminists mobilise, and how funding can better support their efforts. Together, these insights offer a roadmap for more effective, equitable funding and policy grounded in the lived realities and leadership of Global South feminist movements—key drivers of lasting, systemic change.

The Intersection of Gender, Conflict, and Climate: Confronting Global Funding Gaps

Environmental stressors like droughts, floods, and desertification deepen inequalities, especially for women and excluded groups. while fueling resource tensions, undermining stability, and, alongside armed violence, accelerating ecosystem degradation and climate change.

In Burkina Faso, where climate change, insecurity, and displacement intersect, over 2 million people have been forced from their homes. Among them is Rabo Foutouna, a mother of four who fled violence and sought to rebuild her life through agriculture. Determined to regain independence, she pursued opportunities to return to farming—because in this fragile context, land means more than survival. As she puts it, ‘This production not only allows us to feed ourselves daily, but also to regain a certain independence, a guarantee of resilience in the face of the challenges we go through.

Read the full article about conflict, gender equity, and climate justice by Hilary Clauson at Alliance Magazine.