Representatives from several international foundations and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) led a panel discussion regarding resource investment for HIV positive women and girls on Thursday July 5, at the International Women’s Summit (IWS) in Nairobi. “By investing in positive women and girls, we have a chance to do away with structural destructions in our systems, we have an opportunity to end the cycle of poverty and gender-based violence,” said panelist Bhatupe Mhango, a member of the United Nations (UN) PLUS, the UN system-wide group of staff living with HIV.

Ending that cycle—and its effects on positive women and girls—requires collaboration between women’s agencies and the bodies that fund their programs, all panellists agreed. “We applaud women as change makers, the solutions have to be defined by women” Muadi Mukenge from the Global Fund for Women, one such funding entity commented. Mukenge addressed the common tension between funds and NGOs by acknowledging the crucial roles both parties play in bringing solutions to communities. “We can’t do all the work on our own.” Mukenge informed delegates, many of whom represented grassroots women’s organizations from all over the world. “See us as partners,” she implored.

To create a successful partnership between foundations and NGOs, NGOs must view fundraising as a crucial tool in increasing public awareness of political issues, according to Joanna Kerr, former Executive Director of the Association for Women’s Right in Development (AWID). “I love fundraising because to me it is advocacy,” Kerr said. “Donors in many parts of the world have become the de facto policymakers.”

In accessing funds, collaboration among NGOs is just as crucial as collaboration with foundations however imbedded the spirit of competition for funds has become, Kerr pointed out in her presentation. “We have to stop thinking of ourselves as little projects,” she continued, “we have to think of ourselves as a movement.”

Dr Christoph Benn from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Millicent A Obasa from CARE USA and Maureen Bell, World YWCA Treasurer and an expert in investment policies and standards, also contributed to the panel discussion.
Michelle Beg, former Director of Campaigns and Communications at the World YWCA, moderated.