NATO’s military budgets rise feared to be directly impacting - gender equality funding Programs

As NATO ramps up its military budgets, the urgent need for sustainable and targeted funding for women’s rights and equality underscores the difficult balance between global security spending and social justice priorities. European and international women and human rights organisations have lobbied in Pre-NATO Summit warning member states to maintain good balance between defense and developmentAs NATO doubles down on military spending, the challenge of balancing defense priorities with social welfare and climate commitments will become more urgent and more difficult to resolve.

Critical funding for women’s rights and gender equality is facing severe challenges. The UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women and UN Women’s Peace and Humanitarian[SB1] Fund (WPHF) released 2024 reports revealing that nearly half of women’s organizations working in humanitarian crises risk closure within 6 months due to funding cuts. The WPHF alone supported 579 local women-led groups last year, nearly half receiving UN funding for the first time.

The warnings come as world leaders convene at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development in Sevilla, Spain. UN Women stressed that “the money simply is not reaching the women and girls who need it most.

[SB1]Hyperlink to the report