Empowering Women-Led Solutions: PWWSD Champions Locally Driven Crisis Response at First Response Fund Meeting

New York – March 6th & 7th 2025] The Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development (PWWSD) was honored to participate in the First Response Fund (FRF) Design Meeting, bringing together feminist funds, women’s rights organizations, and key humanitarian actors to strategize on more effective, locally driven crisis response.

At a time when funding for gender and human rights is among the first to be cut, the meeting underscored the urgency of leveraging pooled funds to ensure resources reach women-led organizations (WLOs) directly and without excessive bureaucracy. Discussions highlighted the need to shift power to local responders, recognizing them as strategic decision-makers rather than sub-grantees of larger INGOs.

 In the context of Palestine, where humanitarian crisis has become the norm rather than the exception, PWWSD representative- Shahd Sataria emphasized the necessity of integrating emergency response with long-term development strategies. The disconnect between short-term humanitarian aid and sustainable resilience-building must be addressed to ensure communities are not left behind between crises.

As global humanitarian funding undergoes a massive shift, with many governments scaling back, the FRF represents a crucial opportunity to bridge gaps and prioritize feminist, community-led responses. The meeting reinforced the need for stronger collaborations between funders, WLOs, and humanitarian actors to build preparedness, sustainability, and dignity-driven responses on the ground.

PWWSD remains committed to ensuring that women-led organizations are not just included in conversations but are actively shaping funding structures and crisis response strategies. We look forward to continued engagement in transforming humanitarian aid into a more just, equitable, and locally rooted system.