Call for Sessions
Join us in advancing gender equality on the global financing agenda!
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Are you a feminist group feeling the financial pinch in your fight for equality?
Are you challenging the system to put gender equity at the center of public budgets and policy-making? Do you want to see more private dollars genuinely drive change through women’s funds in the Majority World? Or perhaps you’re ready to break, reshape, and rewrite the very rules that make up the funding landscape?
If you answered yes to any of these questions and are ready for a “fun fight”, we invite you to help shape Financing for Feminist Futures (F4FF). This landmark event will bring together researchers, policy-makers, (intermediary) funders, and civil society organizations to share ideas, showcase research, and strategize for gender-responsive funding solutions.
Towards a “Common Ask” for resourcing feminist movements
The Common Ask Framework (CAF) is a tool developed by the Walking the Talk consortium to consolidate and amplify calls for more and better funding for feminist movements. This framework is collectively shaped by women’s funds, gender justice organizations, and feminist movements and researchers from the Majority World. It focuses specifically on feminist resourcing from various angles: public and private financing, as well as reshaping the international financial architecture.
While macroeconomic issues and system change are undeniably critical, our top priority in the short to mid-term is to increase financing for feminist civil society. The Common Ask Framework (CAF) reflects a united advocacy framework to apply in resource mobilization for feminist priorities. Although we will officially launch the CAF at the conference, we have already begun applying it to drive critical conversations and collective action on platforms like the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4).
In January 2025, we plan to facilitate a soft launch online. By engaging diverse stakeholders, we aim to deepen dialogue around the CAF and advance a financing agenda grounded in feminist values and accountability. Our goal is to cultivate a creative and dynamic space for dialogue, amplify transformative approaches, strengthen connections within the feminist ecosystem, and build solidarity with global feminist movements.
Session Proposals
To achieve this, we invite bold session proposals that align with our four feminist-driven thematic tracks:
- Show us the public money
Where’s the investment in gender equality coming from the public sphere? This track dives into Official Development Assistance (ODA), new tax strategies, climate funds, and gender bonds to spark change. How do we get governments to truly walk the talk on financing feminist futures? - Show us the private money
Is private sector funding an ally or an illusion? This track explores the role of philanthropy in feminist financing. Let’s discuss how private dollars can genuinely uplift feminist organizations, especially those in the Majority World while keeping ethics, sustainability, and access at the center. - Time to change (or break?) the rules
Can we rethink traditional funding and economic systems to finally tackle global inequalities? Join us to discuss transformative economic models—like the Purple Economy and Care Economy—that break away from colonialist and neoliberal roots, envisioning a feminist financing ecosystem. - Changing the story
How do we decolonize foreign policy and reframe diplomacy? In this track, we’re challenging patriarchal power structures, imagining feminist foreign policies rooted in social justice, and drawing lessons from diverse movements worldwide.
Explore the conference tracks and 13 selected research projects funded by Walking the Talk, and let these themes inspire your sessions, or consider collaborating with the researchers as potential co-panelists. Together, we can make feminist priorities a central pillar of global finance. Submit your session proposal and join us in co-creating a world where feminist perspectives and our collective power place gender equality at the heart of global financial decisions.
Bring your energy, bring your vision, and get ready to make waves!
How to prepare and submit your session
Session proposals should be submitted here. Organizers will need to create an account with their email, after which they will be directed to a submission form. The form will require the following information:
- Session description: Provide a compelling title and summary (200-300 words) that highlights the session’s goals, relevance, and intended outcomes. Your session can take place in English, French or Spanish.
- Session formats and criteria: Each session must align with at least one of the main thematic tracks and should clearly articulate its advocacy ask(s). We encourage a range of engaging formats, including panel discussions, workshops, fireside chats, documentary screenings, and artistic performances that foster cross-sector collaboration and dynamic dialogue. Panels, fireside chats, and roundtable discussions must include multiple stakeholders to foster rich conversations and advocacy across sectors. Sessions are designed to bridge multiple perspectives, drawing on diverse experiences, and welcome speakers from various regions, with a particular emphasis on voices from the Majority World.
- Thematic track(s): Specify the main thematic track your session aligns with, plus a secondary track if relevant.
- Impact: Specify your advocacy ask(s). (200 words)
- Audience: Indicate the primary audience (e.g., policymakers, activists, researchers, donors) and any key participants you hope to attract. (200 words)
- Speakers: Include a list of proposed speakers, specifying their country of residence and affiliation. Sessions should aim for diversity and inclusivity, with a particular interest in ensuring representation from the Majority World.
- About yourself (and the other organizers, if applicable): Tell us how you are connected to the issues and movement this session addresses (250 words).
- Visa and funding: Indicate if you need a visa and/or funding to attend Financing for Feminist Futures.
Submission deadline: Submissions are due by Wednesday, 18 December 2024 23:59 CET.
Selection, notification and participation guidelines
Funded participants will be notified during the week of January 13, 2025, and will have seven days to complete their registration and confirm their attendance. Self-funded successful applicants will be notified during the week of January 27, 2025.
We reserve the right to suggest merging sessions if necessary. Additionally, strong proposals that are not selected in the first stage, may still be considered if any of the chosen sessions cannot proceed.
Submitting a session proposal and participating in the Financing Feminist Futures Conference is free of charge. However, we have a limited capacity of 200 participants. The Walking the Talk consortium aims to support the participation (travel and accommodation costs) of up to 100 feminists from the Majority World. Please note that submitting a proposal does not guarantee financial assistance from the Walking the Talk consortium.
Background information
In early July 2025, the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) will be held in and hosted by Spain. This high-level intergovernmental event, which is supported by the United Nations, aims to transform the current global financial architecture to address a broad range of development funding challenges amid the backdrop of geopolitical uncertainty, widening inequality, and growing poverty across the globe. We know that despite growing evidence for the need and potential impact of feminist or gender-transformative approaches as a path out of these stifling realities, this will most likely not be on the menu (or at the table!). That’s why, Financing for Feminist Futures wants to bridge that gap by mobilizing the power, knowledge, and networks of bad-ass feminists who are passionate about creating and financing alternative futures.