The Resilience Fund for Women in Global Value Chains
With women forming the backbone of global value chains, this pooled funding initiative brings together companies, foundations and women leaders to strengthen women’s health, safety and economic resilience in supply chain communities across South and Southeast Asia.
The Resilience Fund responds to the growing reality that climate risks such as heat, flooding and drought are already affecting workers’ lives and livelihoods – with disproportionate impacts on women. Through a trust based, feminist and participatory grant making model, the Fund invests directly in grassroots, women led organisations that have the knowledge and relationships to respond to both the direct and indirect impacts of climate change.
By providing flexible, multi year funding, the Fund enables local organisations to decide where resources are most effective, strengthening long term resilience rather than short term fixes. Pooled funding allows investors to reach organisations that are harder to fund, and de risk engagement through shared governance and democratic decision making. Alongside grant making, the Fund’s Learning Hub builds networks between investors, women led organisations and civil society, enabling cross sector learning and deeper understanding of how climate risks intersect with gender, labour rights and just transition in global value chains.
The Fund was jointly shaped in 2021, by BSR, the United Nations Foundation’s Universal Access Project, and Women Win/Win-Win Strategies with founding partners and investors Gap Foundation, PVH Foundation and The VF Foundation as well as the H&M Foundation – aiming for a long term and systemic response to the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on women and women workers. In 2025, the Fund refined its scope to also address climate risks in supply chain communities as part of its core focus on women’s health, safety and economic resilience.
H&M Foundation is a founding investor in the Resilience Fund and has served on its Advisory Board since its inception. Our formal support continues throughout 2026, during which a key focus is deepening engagement with Asian philanthropies and supporting the transition of Fund operations to locally rooted leadership – an important step towards long term sustainability and shared learnings.
Project time period
Financial Support:
7,5 million SEK
Focus Areas:
Partners:
Countries:
