About WOSSO

Women of the South Speak Out (WOSSO) is a Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office initiative managed for the UK government by a consortium comprised of two prominent, Southern women’s rights organisations (WROs), Gender Links (as lead) and ARROW, in partnership with MannionDaniels.

WOSSO was officially launched on International Women’s Day (8 March 2023) by Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly as part of the UK’s new global Women and Girls Strategy:

“A new £38 million programme will support women’s rights organisations (WROs) and movements around the world. £33 million of this funding is for a new partnership with the Equality Fund (a Canadian-initiated fund which supports feminist organisations with private and public support). Up to £5 million of this is going to the consortium led by Gender Links, a South African-based women’s rights organisation.”

What will WOSSO do?

With shared feminist values and a deep concern around the narrowing civic space, the consortium will work together for five years (2023 to 2027), to ensure the voices of women and girls from the global south, in all their diversity, inform the decisions and policies that affect their lives.

There are two major strands to the work of WOSSO:

1. It will support and facilitate women’s rights organisations and women leaders, to ensure their meaningful engagement in key advocacy meetings.
2. It will influence policy, programme and legislation outcomes on gender equality and women’s rights, including sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR).

WOSSO will work in collaboration, build movements, better understand intersectionality, challenge traditional power structures and focus on lived experiences.

More information

Further information will be shared on this page as the programme develops, and if you are a women’s rights organisation working in the Global South, please get in touch to find out more.