Where’s the Money for Women’s Rights? Funding Trends in the Western Balkans Supported by © The Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation, 2020 All rights reserved. This publication may be copied and shared, so long as the source is acknowledged. Authors: Nicole Farnsworth, Nerina Guri, Donjeta Morina, and Taya Kohnen for the Kosovo Women’s Network This publication was produced with financial support from The Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation or the Government of Sweden. Designed by the Kosovo Women’s Network and Night Design Printed by Night Design in Pristina, Kosovo, using eco-friendly printing. Where’s the Money for Women’s Rights? Funding Trends in the Western Balkans ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Eight women’s rights organisations in the Western Balkans collaborated to research and write this report, including: the Albanian Women Empowerment Network, Autonomous Women’s Centre (Serbia), Centre of Women’s Rights (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Kosovo Women’s Network, National Network to End Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (North Macedonia), Rights for All (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Sandglass (Serbia), and Women’s Rights Centre (Montenegro). The partners identified the need for this research during their work and a strategizing meeting with other women’s rights organisations in 2018. They then received support from The Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation to conduct this research. Each organisation also made significant in- kind contributions to the research in terms of time and energy. Contributing researchers included: Albania: Ines Leskaj, Danjela Shkalla, Eneda Cenko Bosnia and Herzegovina: Maida Omercehajic, Selma Badzic, Edina Sejmenovic, Tea Pripoljac Kosovo (and regional level research): Nicole Farnsworth, Nerina Guri, Donjeta Morina, Taya Kohnen, Angelika Arutyunova, Liridona Sijarina, Besarta Breznica, Leonora Aliu, Qëndresa Tërshani, Donjeta Arifi, Valmira Rashiti, Etleva Malushaj, Sara Nicole Baxley, Adelina Berisha Montenegro: Maja Raicevic, Marija Glomazic North Macedonia: Elena Dimushevska, Monika Cekalovik, Ana Pejovska Serbia: Marina Iles, Aleksandra Nestorov, Jovana Markulic, Snezana Jakovljevic, Tina Ciric, Milkana Pavlovic The research team thanks the 71 funders and 241 women’s rights organisations who shared their valuable time and made this research possible. The authors express their gratitude to the external reviewers for their insightful feedback, including Brigitta Jaksa, Dr. Elisabeth Klatzer, Dr. Elizabeth Villagomez, Giulia Pasquinelli, Monica Erwér, Tenzin Dolker and the Association for Women’s Rights in Development, and all of the research participants who checked and validated sections of the report. The authors thank the entire Kosovo Women’s Network team for their ongoing support throughout this process, particularly Igballe Rogova for her encouragement and guidance, Lauren Hanna for final proofreading, and Donjeta Berisha for assistance with the design and layout. Many thanks to The Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation for their trust, patience, counsel, and support. CONTENTS ACRONYMS................................................................................................................................... 2 GLOSSARY .................................................................................................................................... 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................................. 6 KEY FINDINGS .......................................................................................................................... 8 KEY RECOMMENDATIONS .......................................................................................................... 9 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... 11 Commitments to Financing Gender Equality and WCSOs ............................................................ 12 Why This Research? ................................................................................................................ 14 Methodology ........................................................................................................................... 16 About This Report ................................................................................................................... 19 THE CONTEXT ............................................................................................................................ 20 Global Funding Trends ............................................................................................................. 20 The Political Context: Insecurities and Shrinking Space .............................................................. 23 National Laws Impacting Access to Funding .............................................................................. 25 Conclusion: The Context .......................................................................................................... 31 WHO FUNDS WOMEN’S RIGHTS? ................................................................................................. 32 Funders Active in the WB ......................................................................................................... 32 WCSOs Preferences Regarding Funders .................................................................................... 66 Conclusion: Who Funds Women’s Rights in the WB? .................................................................. 70 FUNDING TRENDS ...................................................................................................................... 71 Overall Trends in Funding to WCSOs ........................................................................................ 71 Thematic Areas or Sectors Funded ........................................................................................... 78 Funding for Particular Target Groups ........................................................................................ 87 Funding for Particular Strategies ............................................................................................... 88 Funding Amounts .................................................................................................................... 90 Funding Timeframes ................................................................................................................ 91 Funding Approaches and Issues ............................................................................................... 93 Future Funding Planned for the WB .......................................................................................... 97 Conclusions: Funding Trends .................................................................................................... 99 WHY SUPPORT WCSOS?............................................................................................................ 100 Bolstering Efforts towards Democracy and Human Rights ........................................................ 100 WCSOs Address Persisting Inequalities and Injustices .............................................................. 101 WCSOs as Service Providers ................................................................................................... 102 WCSOs as Change-makers ..................................................................................................... 103 Funders’ Views of WCSOs’ Relevance, Efficiency, Effectiveness, Sustainability, Impact ............... 114 A Delicate Balance: Financing WCSOs, INGOs and Multilaterals ................................................ 117 Conclusion: Why Support WCSOs?.......................................................................................... 121 RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................................................ 122 For WCSOs ........................................................................................................................... 122 For Funders .......................................................................................................................... 122 For the EU ............................................................................................................................ 124 For Governments ................................................................................................................... 125 For Coordination .................................................................................................................... 126 WORKS CITED .......................................................................................................................... 127 ANNEXES.................................................................................................................................. 136 Annex 1. Sample Descriptives and Other Data ......................................................................... 136 Annex 2. Research Participants .............................................................................................. 138 Annex 3. Detailed Methodology .............................................................................................. 144 Annex 4. Funders from which WCSOs Reported Receiving Funding ........................................... 149 1 ACRONYMS ADA Austrian Development Agency AWC