Since 2001, AWDF has stayed true to its core goal: to build up an autonomous base for gender equality and development, supporting movements and initiatives of women that ordinarily do not have access to mainstream sources of funding for reasons of capacity, language, geographical location, and marginalisation.

With 17 years of operations and a network of over 1,300 women’s organisations in 43 African countries, as well as 2 countries in the Middle East, AWDF has developed a unique, flexible and responsive approach to grantmaking. This approach has catalysed change in the lives of women, particularly those from marginalised communities, and at the levels of policy.