When a crisis breaks out, women’s rights organisations are often the first to respond, but this crucial work is still overlooked by the international community as ‘not humanitarian’. Women’s rights organisations are shut out of funding, decision-making and coalitions where they are needed most.

In this parallel event at the NGO Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) Forum, Global South-based women’s rights organisations will share evidence of their role during the pandemic and the barriers they encounter inside the humanitarian system. This interactive discussion will build on new findings to explore how the Covid-19 recovery can reshape humanitarian response, equipping women’s rights organisations with adequate resources and decision-making power to upscale their frontline roles.

This event is co-created by Coalition on Violence Against Women Kenya, Women’s Refugee Commission, Marsa Lebanon, Badabon Sangho, Lebanon Family Planning Association for Sustainable Development, Community Healthcare Initiative Liberia, Crown the Woman South Sudan, Humanitarian Relief Development Council, Kiaswa Initiative, Women for Human Rights/Gyanbodh Nepal, Kiaswa Initiative Kenya, Life at Best Development Initiative Nigeria, Network of Ethiopian Women’s Associations, Pastoralist Girls Initiative Kenya, Shashat Woman Cinema Palestine, Organisation for Women and Girls Liberia, Paramount Young Women’s Initiative Liberia, Network of Disabled Women Nigeria, Community Empowerment for Peace and Development Uganda, Polycom Development Project, Amplify Girls Kenya, Pokot Women Empowerment Organisation, Women for Change South Sudan, Humanitarian Policy Group at ODI UK, and the Feminist Humanitarian Network.