Women’s rights and women-led organizations (WROs/WLOs) are a critical driving force in providing effective gender-based violence (GBV) prevention and response services to women and girls impacted by conflict and displacement. Although rhetorical recognition of WROs/WLOs has grown at policy levels, funding to WROs/WLOs remains incredibly low. Following on from “Why Not Local?”, this report provides analysis from across three contexts: Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Ukraine. It reveals the pervasive systemic barriers preventing WROs/WLOs to access humanitarian funding.

An IRC psychologist reflects on the fresh trauma faced by refugees who fled violence in their home countries only to be displaced by a fire in a refugee camp in Greece.

Seventy years ago, 145 countries signed the 1951 Refugee Convention in the wake of World War II, when the displacement of millions of people across Europe shed light on the need for humanitarian protections for those forced to flee violence and persecution. Since 1951, 50 million people have been protected under the Convention’s umbrella. Yet, today, the consensus that forged the Convention and the international cooperation that underpins it are being increasingly undermined. Over the past several years, we have seen a decline in resettlement, a hardening of refugee inclusion and asylum policies, and humanitarian aid lagging behind needs, across the regions that once most firmly upheld these protections. This report outlines how the US and Europe were key players at the time of the Convention's creation - now is the time for these same actors to reinvigorate it.