February, Thursday 13, 2025
This session will explore learnings and challenges from the creation and launch of the innovative new Global Statelessness Fund.
Visioned by movement leaders and co-created/co-led by frontline activists with lived experience, civil society allies and donors, the GSF seeks to avoid many of the problems in traditional philanthropy. From the outset, its design has centred the needs and realities of stateless activists and groups led by people impacted by statelessness and discriminatory nationality laws – those who experience the greatest barriers to funding. As a result, the GSF model will strengthen individual and collective action through a unique combination of participatory, flexible and transformative grant-making.
However, difficult trade-offs and challenges remain as some complementary goals and priorities are in tension with each other. For instance, how do we balance moving quickly, honouring our commitment to maximize the flow of funding to frontline groups and being light-touch with application and reporting processes; while also succeeding in putting decision-making in the hands of people impacted by statelessness, providing meaningful accompaniment support and sufficiently documenting impact during the 3-year pilot stage to facilitate raising funds for an expansion of the Fund?
In this session, participants will engage with GSF founders and discuss the evolving modalities and real-time challenges of building this innovative fund—a project likened to constructing the plane while flying it! The session will also touch on the particular challenges of securing funding for an intersectional issue that falls between the cracks of donor priorities.
The Global Statelessness Fund is an initiative co-created by stateless people, civil society organizations, and donors. We believe that people impacted by statelessness and the initiatives they lead are best placed to pursue effective change. Through unrestricted multi-year grants, we support impacted person-led groups and stateless activists to achieve: greater autonomy to pursue locally-driven solutions; enhanced responsiveness to new needs and opportunities; improved resilience; greater stability of staff body and programs; and greater ability to participate in regional and global initiatives.
Lessons from the Session
Impacted communities have the deepest understanding of statelessness and the systemic barriers they face. Philanthropy must move beyond consultation and ensure that these communities lead the decision-making process. Funding models should reflect this by shifting power and prioritizing participatory approaches.
If you want real change, you must ensure that those with lived experiences are in decision-making spaces, shaping the policies and resources meant to support them. – Yasah Musa
Traditional funding models, with short-term, project-based restrictions, create financial instability and hinder long-term impact. Statelessness requires structural change, and philanthropy must provide sustained, flexible funding that allows organizations to adapt and respond to emerging needs.
Why don’t donors fund us like they want us to win? – Martin Dunn
Many frontline groups, especially those led by stateless people, struggle to access funding due to complex application processes, legal hurdles, and financial barriers. Philanthropy must remove these obstacles by simplifying grantmaking, supporting informal groups, and creating alternative pathways for resource distribution.
The very best groups doing the most critical work are often locked out of funding opportunities because of complex processes and grant requirements. – Yasah Musa
Statelessness is deeply interconnected with human rights, migration, climate justice, gender equality, and democracy. Despite this, it remains invisible in most philanthropic strategies. Funders must integrate statelessness into their broader funding priorities, ensuring that it does not continue to fall through the cracks.
Statelessness isn’t a priority for anyone as an issue on its own—yet it should be a priority for everyone. – Laura van Waas
Impact-led organizations often lack formal registration or financial infrastructure, making them ineligible for traditional grants. Philanthropy must shift toward trust-based models, leveraging peer validation, community reputation, and flexible reporting to ensure accountability without creating additional burdens.
We are meeting groups where they are and supporting them on the ground—not forcing them into rigid funding structures that don’t fit their realities. – Jean-François De Hertogh
Bio and Pictures
Martin Dunn is a social entrepreneur, human rights activist, impact investor, and donor. He has co-founded several social justice organizations, and most recently has established the Blue Sky Social Justice Fund. He is a member of the Steering Group of the Global Statelessness Fund.
Jean-François de Hertogh is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of the Open Collective Europe Foundation. He’s been at the forefront of addressing social challenges in Europe and he is a member of the Management Committee of the Global Statelessness Fund.
Yasah Musa is a Project Manager at The Nubian Rights Forum, a grassroots legal empowerment organization in Kenya, where he leads the Citizenship and Land Program. He is a member of the Management Committee and the Steering Group of the Global Statelessness Fund, as well as the Interim Core Group of the Global Movement Against Statelessness.
Laura van Waas is a co-founder and a Co-Director of the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion (ISI), the first and only NGO that is dedicated to promoting the right to a nationality and the rights of stateless people globally. She is a member of the Management Committee and the Steering Group of the Global Statelessness Fund.
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