Her Horizon Fund launches with $15M to end female genital mutilation
What's the deal? Her Horizon FundDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → launched with $15 million to back frontline organisations working to end female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C). The fund debuted at the Justice for Girls convening in Kenya, a gathering of 150 movement leaders from 36 countries.
Who's behind it? The US-based Wallace Global FundDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, which has prioritised FGM/C since its inception, seeded the fund with $14 million and added $1.5 million from an anonymous donor. The fund will be housed at Women Win, a women's fund based in the Netherlands, with grantmaking to begin in 2027.
Why now? The launch comes as donor funding is in freefall. Bilateral aid budgets are being slashed, and humanitarian and development assistance is in steep decline, particularly for survivor-led work in local communities.
What's the endgame? The fund aims to pool $100 million from bilateral, philanthropic, and corporate donors to reach a “tipping point” toward ending FGM/C in a generation. It will be global in scope, unlike other FGM/C funding vehicles.
FGM/C — the partial or total removal of female genitalia for nonmedical reasons — has been endured by over 230 million women and girls, including over 144 million in Africa, 80 million in Asia, and 6 million in the Middle East. It can cause severe pain, excessive bleeding, infection, childbirth complications, and lasting psychological trauma, and is a leading cause of death in countries where it is practiced.
How it was built: Wallace Global Fund ran a multi-year field assessment and extensive consultations with survivors, donors, and movement actors before designing the fund. Survivors and activists will continue to shape its strategic direction and grantmaking decisions.
“Her Horizon Fund is an urgent intervention in response to this funding shortfall and will provide a direct pipeline of support to frontline organizations,” the statement said. Scott Fitzmorris, Wallace Global Fund co-chair, invited other donors to join so that momentum toward ending FGM/C becomes “inevitable and unstoppable.”
The signal: Ending FGM/C is enshrined in the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, but donor funding remains misaligned with the scale of the challenge — especially for survivor-led work. Her Horizon Fund, billed as the largest known philanthropic commitment of its kind, is a bet that concentrated capital can sustain that movement as public aid retreats.
Read more: downtoearth.org.in
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
