There cannot be sustainable peace, security or development without the effective participation of women, in all their diversity, and their meaningful participation is not possible if support is not provided to those working in their own communities, to build a culture of peace. 

As a response, the United Nations Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF) is a global multi-partner trust fund mobilizing urgently needed financing for local organizations, re-energizing action, and accelerating support for women’s participation, leadership, and empowerment in humanitarian response and peace and security settings.

WPHF’s primary goal is to bring about peaceful and gender-equal societies. To achieve this goal, WPHF supports local women-led and women’s rights organizations working to:

• Support women’s participation in decision-making processes and responses related to conflict prevention
• Increase women’s engagement and leadership in humanitarian action
• Enhance women’s representation and leadership in formal and informal peace negotiations
• Protect women and girls’ human rights, particularly in responding to sexual and gender-based violence
• Promote women’s involvement in peacebuilding and economic recovery of their communities

Since its launch in 2016, WPHF has funded and supported the capacity of over 900 local women’s organizations through 24 funding allocations in 32 countries.

The WPHF in Lebanon

In Lebanon, the WPHF provides an important opportunity to address structural funding gaps for women’s participation in peacebuilding and decision-making and to complement the ongoing work and streams of funding in Lebanon. It focuses on small and newly emerging independent CSOs targeting women and girls who are working on issues of peace, security and representation.

Currently, the WPHF in partnership with the government of Germany has supported 16 women-led grassroots organizations to contribute to a peaceful and gender-equal society. With the technical assistance of the UN Women Lebanon country office, organizations funded by the WPHF are achieving and have achieved tangible and concrete results and impact through implementing a variety of recovery initiatives and responding to the different needs of diverse women and girls. 

2021 - 2022 WPHF Projects and initiatives across Lebanon