No matter our ethnic differences, we share the same suffering; we are all equal, Fund, Act, Lead: The Empowerment of Female leaders The relationship between funding and peacebuilding is central because sustainable peace efforts require consis­tent, inclusive and flexible financing. When wars break out, they take years to arrive at some form of resolution and even when ceasefire has been achieved, communities need time to heal and rebuild trust in one another as well as in the system. Engaging with conflict parties and com­munities require time and persistence on the field that can only be achieved if there is consistent funding to facilitate the process. The cases of the Women in Peacebuilding Network(WIPNET) in Liberia, the Colombia Peace Accord, the Gender Monitoring Office in Rwanda and the Nepal Local Peace Committees are examples of how consistent funding to women in peacebuilding has yielded positive results. WIPNET received consistent funding from UNI­FEM and OSIWA, which enabled them to monitor cease­fires, mobilize women for reconciliation and provide civic education ahead of elections. In Colombia, a multi-year fund from the European Union 26 and the UN Peacebuild­ing Fund 27 allowed women’s organizations to monitor the peace accord as well as receive training to report human rights abuses. The Gender Monitoring Office in Rwanda receives budgetary allocations from the state, coupled with supplementary donor funding to oversee gender mainstreaming in all governance sectors. It also provides continuous training and support for women in peace and security roles 28 . These examples showcase not only some sources of funding for women in peacebuilding, but also how funding is structured, either direct from international bodies(Liberia) and state resources(Rwanda) but also through the funding of processes that benefit women peacebuilders(Colombia). However, despite global recognition of their roles, wom­en-led peacebuilding initiatives receive less than one per cent of international peace and security funding 29 , which leads to several challenges: women’s contributions to peacebuilding processes remain devalued and informal, their activities remain local and short-term, sometimes invisible and they face meltdown and insecurity due to the absence of institutional support. The case of the South West North West Women’s Task Force in the Anglophone Crisis is a glaring example of the lack of institutional support. The Task Force was the first to carry out public protests of violence in 2018, calling for ceasefire and dia­logue. Through various advocacy efforts, they highlighted the plight of women, girls and children in the crisis and raised international awareness about the conflict. How­ever, when the Major National Dialogue was organized, members of the Task Force were not invited to participate in the talks and less than 15 per cent of women were invited from the ten regions to take part in the process. This is a glaring example of how women’s experiences and contributions are excluded from peace processes. Still related to funding, women-led peacebuilding organi­zations face challenges in accessing funds due to com­plex proposal requirements from donor agencies 30 , often expecting women’s organizations to provide complicated financial histories and fulfil government registration re­quirements. This is usually very challenging for women in frontline organizations especially during conflict because they often engage in peacebuilding as a matter of urgen­cy and not as part of a strategic plan. As a result, they usually have no registration documents, nor any financial history to support their request for funding. Furthermore, with the shrinking civic space in Cameroon, it has become extremely difficult for women to obtain registration docu­ments because it sometimes requires exorbitant amounts to bribe one official or the other. To those women-led organizations that effectively receive funds, they suffer other forms of exclusion. For instance, their perceived lack of capacity to manage resources and reporting according to donor requirements has sometimes led the recruitment of a male supervisory authority and this often leads to a conflict in the vision and operational functioning of the organization. Some of these areas of conflict include costs of travel and other logistical arrangements for attending meetings and other events. Most donor agencies prefer to pay transportation, provide meals and accommodation to participants in costly hotels for two or three nights but they do not offer Daily Sitting Allowances(DSA). This is quite challenging for women on the frontlines, 26 European Union External Action, Support to Colombia’s Peace Process: Gender Action Plan, EU Report, 2020, 27 United Nations Peacebuilding Fund, Sustaining Peace through Long-Term Funding: Lessons from the Field, UN PBF Report, 2019 28 Republic of Rwanda, Gender Monitoring Office. Annual Report, 2023 29 UN Women. Financing for Gender Equality in the Context of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda. UN Women Policy Brief, 2022. 30 AWID(Association for Women’s Rights in Development). Where is the Money for Feminist Organizing? 2020. 9 Gender Justice Competence Center Sub-Saharan Africa