Fund for gender equality: strengthening food sovereignty as a way out of violence against women

Background information

Worldwide, at least one in three women has experienced violence, the majority of them sexualized violence. Structural inequalities make political participation and access to education, income and healthcare more difficult. In many countries where our partners are working for gender equality, partial successes are often undone by backlash tendencies. Gender equality is a guiding principle for all Mission 21 programs and projects. Mission 21 maintains a global women's and gender network. In 2025, the Fund for Gender Equality will deepen its commitment to the prevention of sexualized and gender-based violence (SGBV) and the promotion of food sovereignty. Food insecurity increases the risk factors for sexualized violence: poverty, economic dependence, illness and others. The projects offer comprehensive solutions for the affected communities, especially women, and promote their safety, economic independence and access to food systems.

Goals

• In addition, the cooperation programs respond to social developments that can reinforce gender inequality.
• Funding of innovative pilot projects with new approaches, new partners or new topics that have the proven potential to strengthen the activities of the cooperation programs for gender equality in the long term
• Promotion of exchange between the project managers of the pilot projects and the cooperation programs
  

Insights into pilot projects 2025

Strengthening institutional capacity to prevent sexualized violence in rural areas in Peru

In the rural region of Puno, the fund is financing the strengthening of the institutional capacities of three existing partner organizations. The feminist organization Manuela Ramos is being brought in as a new project partner. It will train the existing partner organizations in the identification of situations of sexualized violence and support them in their efficient and sensitized application.

Climate protection and women's empowerment in Tanzania

The Uansgu Tree Project organizes seminars on sexualized violence for vulnerable groups of women with the support of the Fund for Gender Equality. Community-based water infrastructure administrations have been formed in each active project location. These administrations invite men to agroecological seminars that also deal with gender-equitable topics. These include the prevention of violence against women. In addition, ecological initiatives in elementary school integrate age-appropriate training on sexualized violence.