UNITED NATIONS FOUNDATION

Resilience Fund For Women In Global Value Chains

The Resilience Fund for Women in Global Value Chains emerged in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic to address the needs of women workers and the communities surrounding global supply chains. “It was clear that the pandemic was disproportionately affecting women and girls around the world, reversing the gains of the past decades in advancing women’s economic empowerment, health, rights and safety,” said Justine Desmarais of the Universal Access Project at the United Nations Foundation. The VF Foundation was a founding contributor of this pooled fund that is anchored by contributions from global brands. It supports locallyled innovations, solutions or emerging practices and deploys the collective resources of forward-thinking companies in order to boost the long-term economic resilience, health and fortunes of women who are working to meet global demands. It builds on innovative and emerging practices in philanthropy by investing in local women-led organizations, adopting democratized and participatory processes and shifting the power dynamics between funders and grantees in the communities where the brands operate. “Together with other corporate investments, The VF Foundation’s contribution underwrote support for more than 30 women-led grassroots organizations in India and Bangladesh, including indirect grants in those countries in partnership with Women’s Fund Asia,” said Justine. The Fund, which was launched virtually with a keynote by Grameen Bank, Founder and Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus and recognized by the World Economic Forum as a best-in-class case study on social justice and stakeholder inclusion, is expanding its grantmaking to Cambodia and Vietnam in 2023. The Fund places its trust in the hands of the women and communities who will ultimately own their solutions. The Fund is redefining what is possible through pooled corporate giving and community-led engagement.