The challenge
The gender-based violence (GBV) field is facing an urgent funding crisis, with service providers experiencing frozen grants, dwindling resources, and an increasingly fragile infrastructure. As frontline organizations struggle to maintain critical services, we must confront the deeper systemic challenges driving this decline and work collectively to develop both immediate and long-term solutions.
The session
On 13th March 2025 at 2-4pm in New York, we will gather service providers, select policy leaders, and funders in an intimate, action-driven discussion uncovering the root causes of the crisis in the United States using systems thinking methods. Together, we will identify the trends impacting GBV funding and service delivery, examine the flawed mental models and systemic barriers limiting sustainable investment, and co-create strategies to ensure that survivors and frontline organizations are not left behind.
This is not just a conversation—it is a call to action. With 30–40 key stakeholders, we will work toward a shared understanding of the crisis, surface meaningful support mechanisms, and chart a path toward renewed investment in the GBV field.
Under Chatham House rules, participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the participants and speakers may be revealed. CPI will capture key insights and actionable solutions in a report to the field, ensuring our discussions can meaningfully help reverse this crisis.
Our key goals
Diagnose the crisis
- Use the Iceberg Model to map out concerning trends in GBV funding and service delivery.
- Identify both immediate funding gaps and deeper systemic issues that are driving the crisis.
Interrogate systemic flaws & mental models
- Examine harmful assumptions and policy failures that have led to funding cuts.
- Discuss the broader implications of declining investment in GBV services for survivors and communities.
Co-create actionable solutions
- Identify both immediate and long-term strategies to strengthen support for the GBV field.
- Explore opportunities for advocacy, coalition-building, and innovative funding approaches.
Unwind & uplift: A CSW happy hour for GBV changemakers
After the session, join us for a relaxed happy hour from 5.30pm to 7.30pm, where we’ll connect, unwind, and spark bold conversations on the future of GBV work over drinks.
With so many of us in town for CSW, this is the perfect moment to bring together voices from across the GBV field—including those focused on tech-facilitated GBV, frontline service delivery, and political violence—to build connections, share insights, and reimagine what’s possible.
Expect great company, engaging conversation, and a beautiful setting to toast the work ahead. Let us know if you can join–we’d love to see you there!
Register your interest
Do you work in or around the GBV field, and want to convene with other service providers, policy leaders, and funders to uncover the root causes of this crisis using systems thinking methods?
Get in touch with us if you’d like to be invited to the session and/or happy hour in New York on 13th March 2025!
