How Women Lead: Women-led organisations as humanitarian crisis responders (HPG, 2025)

Women-led organisations (WLOs) play a critical role in leading responses to humanitarian crises and meeting immediate needs, but they remain chronically underfunded and excluded from humanitarian decision-making and coordination. The failure to collect and collate data on the work of WLOs has prevented strategic progress on better support. This paper documents how WLOs play a critical role in responding to crises, using case studies to illustrate. Although WLOs have long asserted their importance during crisis response, their role has often been overlooked.