Dalia Fund launched to ensure women's organisations do not disappear in the aftermath of the pandemic

Many jobs and services provided to people in need are at stake.

The Dalia Fund was born to raise funds and support hundreds of social and solidarity economy organisations made up of and led by women in Spain that are at risk of disappearing due to the continuing economic consequences of the pandemic.

On the one hand, it was believed that 2021 would be the year of economic recovery, but recently the European Commission estimated that the Spanish economy will grow by 4.6%, 1.6 points less than it calculated before the summer of this year; and, on the other hand, there is great uncertainty about how subsidies for women's rights will work in the coming years. On the employment front, although the unemployment rate fell in July of this year to 14.31 Q3DPT, the country is still twice the OECD average and ranks alongside Greece as one of the countries with the highest unemployment rates. The unemployment rate for women is also one of the highest at 16.6%.

Under the leadership of Calala Fondo de Mujeres and with the support of social entities such as La Comala S. Coop, Mujeres Pa'lante, Mujeres Supervivientes, Labcoop, Metzineres and Otro Tiempo, this solidarity initiative aims to provide resources to women's organisations that are finding it difficult to recover and continue their activities, which have an important social and economic impact.

What is the current situation of women's organisations?

This year we made a survey of 75 social entities of women's organisations to find out how they are organised and the state they are in as a result of the health crisis we have experienced. Here are some relevant data:

• The 83,4% of those surveyed are women working members of the organisations, which shows that women are the driving force and workforce of these organisations.
• These organisations have 528 persons employed, of which 148 are women workers and 384 are women workers.
• 867 women are served by the organisations or take part in their activities.
• A 61,3% of organisations report lower revenues in 2020 due to the pandemic
• The 37,3% of organisations are clearly in a situation of uncertainty about the future.
• 36 organisations have had to make some kind of cutbacks to cope with the coronavirus crisis, such as salary reductions, reduction of tooling or infrastructure costs to carry out their work, reduction of working hours, redundancies, ERTES and 9.8% have closed a physical site.

What is the social impact of women's organisations?

The organisations we support work on the frontline with the community, offering services adapted to people's needs, with a more personalised and closer attention in various areas such as:

• Accompaniment in cases of male violence
• Socio-occupational integration for migrant women
• Education for children and adolescents
• Soup kitchens for people in precarious social and employment situations
• Legal and administrative consultancy for people without resources

According to the survey of 75 social organisations, the most important activities in which they are engaged are:

1. education and research (22%)
2. advice (21%)
3. culture and leisure (20%)
4. health and care (8%)
5. communication (8%).

To support the continuity of jobs and the provision of services that benefit people in need, a national call for proposals will be launched soon so that organisations that meet certain requirements can submit their proposals until 30 December 2021.

It should be noted that we will give priority to

• organisations led by migrant women, who often have less access to resources
• Entities that are less digitised
• Entities that their sector is in further decline due to the economic crisis

What does our support consist of?

In order to respond to the urgent needs of women's organisations in the social and solidarity economy, we have formed an team of seven women's organisations, with extensive experience in economic solidarity projects. and that it has the necessary capacities to meet the different objectives of the project:

1. accompaniment of organisations
2. the provision of funds to support its structure
3. training in necessary planning skills (business plans, feasibility plans) to enable them to become more sustainable over time.

This partnership, led by Calala Women's Fund and made up of La Comala S. Coop, Women forwards, Women Survivors, Labcoop, Metzineres y Other Time has been working for more than a year on the creation and consolidation of the Dalia Fund, with the support of a network of 50 feminist organisations and cooperatives that have signed up to the project.

We believe that this union is relevant because it guarantees a democratic and rotational representation of these organisations in the management of the project, allows for the participation in decision-making to deliver the funds to the organisations, guarantees transparency of the processes and results and because it allows to develop an active role in the search for funding to support women's organisations in the social and solidarity economy.

Why does Calala Women's Fund lead the Dalia Fund?

• Calala Women's Fund is a foundation that has been promoting women's human rights, such as social leadership and economic autonomy, by providing financial resources to women's organisations and movements around the world since 2009. For this reason, the Dalia Fund is an initiative that is fully consistent with its mission.
• It mobilises resources through a professional team designed for this purpose and has transparency protocols in place to receive large funds which it then distributes to smaller, local groups.
• It is the only women's fund in Spain that raises public and private funds to distribute donations to women's groups and collectives, which have more difficulties in obtaining resources.
• It belongs to the International Network of Prospera Women's Funds in which it participates with 44 other women's funds around the world.

How can you contribute to the Dalia Fund?

On the Calala website you can access the tab DONATE to make your voluntary contributions. Any help adds up so that we can continue to support the world-changing women and organisations that are at risk of disappearing.

Companies or organisations that are committed to women's employment, social leadership and economic empowerment can also contribute by donating to the fund or providing low-interest loans.

We will answer all your questions or provide further information through calala@pruebas.seechangeproject.org

SUPPORT WOMEN'S ORGANISATIONS THAT CHANGE THE WORLD!