Additional Context: Women for Women International is an international NGO supporting women in conflict-affected countries. This finding draws on consultations the organization conducted in 2025 across Federal Iraq and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq on the Women, Peace and Security landscape, examining the funding climate and civic space for women's rights work. In early 2025, the organization conducted consultations with women’s rights organizations in the regions it works.

Following the abrupt withdrawal of U.S. funding in February 2025, organizations in Basra and Najaf reported halting projects mid-cycle, while others shut offices and shifted to virtual operations. One women's rights organization in Federal Iraq, whose community protection program had been funded by the State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL), reported closing its center and moving staff to remote work once the funding ended. According to Women for Women, the lack of core funding was especially damaging to initiatives involving adolescent girls and survivors of gender-based violence whose needs require consistent support over time, not one-off interventions.

Source: Women for Women International