What Do Feminist and Women’s Rights Organizations Want From Partnerships With INGOs? Perspectives from feminist & women’s organizations in Africa

Feminist movements and women’s rights organizations (WROs) play critically important roles in climate action. They support women and girls at the frontline of climate change impacts, and they have long understood that inclusive feminist climate action is vital. Ultimately, international non governmental organizations (INGOs) want to partner – and learn more about how to collaborate successfully – with feminist organizations and WROs1 to further the gender and climate justice agenda. In support of this objective, Oxfam and CARE carried out a research and learning project with the goal of highlighting the perspectives of feminist organizations and WROs on their experiences of collaboration with INGOs, and to draw lessons from their views, ideas and ways of working. The project was implemented in early 2022 in West, East, South and the Horn of Africa, and included grassroots, local, national and global organizations with a focus on these regions. The research used highly participative and stakeholder-led methods, and included a literature review, stakeholder mapping, key informant interviews and focus group discussions with members of feminist organizations and WROs. This paper was co-written by the feminist organizations and WROs who participated in the project, and outlines the key findings and recommendations.