On 5 December, the Bulgarian Fund for Women (BFW), together with the European Women’s Lobby (EWL), hosted an intimate and thought-provoking event examining what it means to exist “in between”. That is, existing in the Global East while navigating philanthropic landscapes and value systems shaped by the Global North. Among the speakers was Nicole Farnsworth, Deputy Director of the Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN), who joined feminist activists, women’s funds and policymakers from across Eastern Europe to reflect on how identity, resources and activism intersect in the spaces where East meets West.
Centred around the question of how feminist movements experience and negotiate these layered realities, the discussion highlighted both the achievements and the ongoing challenges facing women’s rights advocates and feminist movements in Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans. Participants reflected on the legacies of post-socialist transitions, the growing backlash against women’s rights, and the rise of conservative narratives, all of which shape the landscape for feminist organising today.
Farnsworth noted the important feminist roots of Women in Black and feminist activists and networks in the former Yugoslavia who have inspired and supported today’s feminist movements to continue to grow. She expressed concern about the widespread cuts in funding from various historic funders of feminist movements, including European Union (EU) member states and private foundations, which present a serious threat to the survival of women’s rights organisations and the feminist movement in the Western Balkans. She voiced a call for expanding alliances across Europe and globally to advocate for the EU’s new Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), and specifically the Expenditure Tracking and Performance Regulation, to include specific outcomes and indicators towards gender equality in line with gender-responsive budgeting principles and EU values. Otherwise, future EU financing for women’s rights organisations and feminist movements, as one of the few sources remaining in the region, may be at risk. And, the EU will risk losing one of its most important partners in pushing forward EU Accession and EU values in the region.
Together panellists discussed opportunities for expanding alliances for joint advocacy related to the MFF and performance regulation, related to the advocacy points of the Gender Budget Watchdog Network and the European Gender Budget Network.
Sofia Karakaidou from Prospera – International Network of Women’s Funds emphasised that in the current context we all must be engaged to support each other, even when we are tired. “We all have to show up”, she said, especially as individuals. We cannot depend only on networks to represent us.
“No one is coming to save us … We must save ourselves,” said Maya Doneva from the European Women’s Lobby, who moderated the event. “We are the super heroes!”
Other panellists included: Nadejda Dermendjieva, BFW Co-Director; Dina Loghin, EWL President, who spoke about the administrative burdens women’s rights organisations face in managing multiple small projects rather than long-term funds that contribute to their sustainability; and Pille Tsopp-Pagan, Executive Director of Women’s Support Services and GREVIO Member, who emphasised the crucial role of women’s rights organisations in monitoring the Istanbul Convention and holding governments accountable to addressing gender-based violence.
