As we built Dalan Fund in the midst of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and in the context of poly-crises in 16 countries of Central and Eastern Europe, Caucasus, and Central and North Asia we work in, we went through an intense and rewarding journey of co-creation.
Our Seeding Period Report reflects on the first 18 months of the Fund's becoming, and it captures a period of immense growth and the solidification of our work at Dalan Fund from an idea to launching our participatory crisis response mechanism.
Check the link in our bio to learn about our political vision, role in the funding and organizing ecosystems, approach to crisis work and much more!
Illustrations by @artist_mara_aivazian
#ceeccna #participatorygrantmaking #dalanfund
Born out of the wish to celebrate the community that nourishes Dalan Fund’s participatory resource distribution work since its inception, the cookbook brings together contributions from our movement partners who turn cooking into a political act, kitchens into organizing spaces, and shared meals into gestures of solidarity.
In a moment marked by compounding crises, this book stands as an offering of experiences, practices, and knowledge that help CEECCNA communities not only navigate urgent challenges, but also build and rebuild, over and over again, centering mutual care, community work, and collective action.
🍒 Cook, share, and enjoy!
https://dub.sh/cookbook
Collage art by @collage_pattern
Design by odren alina
#ceeccna #dalanfundcommunity #resistancecookbook #solidarity
Growing Against All Odds: Mapping funding for intersectional organizing in the CEECCNA research is now out!
The research is fueled by a need for evidence-based advocacy to secure more strategic and substantial funding for the regional intersectional organizers and movements, whose efforts are critical yet often overlooked and underfunded.
The findings draw on the regional organizers’ own analysis of the sources of support they have, as well as those they need. By raising their voices, we offer an understanding of regional organizing steeped in the wisdom, experience, and priorities of those leading change.
Read the full report via the link in our bio, or here https://dub.sh/witm-ceeccna
Shout out to our outstanding illustrator @artist_mara_aivazian for the visuals of the report
#witm
In late 2022, six months into the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine and decades after Central and Eastern Europe, Caucasus, Central and North Asia (CEECCNA) regions lived through cycles of crises and emergencies, an idea emerged to build an activist-led fund to resource regional intersectional social justice organizing. After months of consultations with CEECCNA-based grassroots activists and international human rights funders, in 2023, the Dalan Fund was seeded in a complex political terrain, which we navigate with the following grounding truth:
People across CEECCNA regions live in compounded and accumulated poly-crises that are often invisible and overlooked.
🔗Learn more about our Theory of Transformation-link in bio and and in the first comment.
For 16 years, Hungary's civil society worked in survival mode, navigating legal attacks, political pressure, and shrinking resources under the Orbán regime.
April's election is a transitional moment. New Prime Minister Péter Magyar has distanced himself from his predecessor's hostile treatment of NGOs and independent civic actors, and publicly apologized to those stigmatized for speaking out. While there is no guarantee of meaningful transformation, civil society is stepping out of survival mode with cautious optimism and with a clear determination and readiness to re-enter national advocacy spaces and actively shape the country’s democratic future.
For many, this moment carries a specific, long-awaited meaning. Dalan's Deputy Director Erika Schmidt and Resource Mobilization Officer Lilla Eredics break down what this transition means for philanthropy and civil society in Hungary.
🔗Read the full article
https://dub.sh/UHc1JSz
Our Theory of Transformation is rooted in a deep awareness of how systemic and historic oppression operate across the CEECCNA regions: through lived experiences of colonization, authoritarianism, nationalism, militarism, and the erasure of voices of descent. It recognizes that systemic transformation calls for bold political imagination, redistribution of power and resources, and coordinated and consistent actions.
It articulates Dalan Fund´s unique role as a regional participatory fund, and serves us as a north star to move towards as we move resources towards social justice movements in sixteen countries and geographies in the regions.
Learn more about our Theory of Transformation-link in bio and and in the first comment.
We are thrilled to launch our Theory of Transformation, the north star of how we aim to work during the first decade of our work.
Our Theory of Transformation articulates how we at Dalan Fund understand and contribute to transformative change in Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central and North Asia (CEECCNA regions).
It embodies reflections and reckoning of our shared past of oppression and interconnected injustices, analysis of the current moment of political turbulence, and visions of a liberatory future for people from the regions.
It took us nearly three years, countless community consultations and collective visioning, strategic pause and reflections, and co-crafting to get our Theory of Transformation out in the world.
Learn about the journey of co-designing the Theory of Transformation, and our understanding of the work we do, the role we play in funding and organizing ecosystems, and the change we aim to bring.
🔗Link in bio and in the first comment👇
We are wrapping up Women Deliver 2026 with a week full of quality time we spent together as the Dalan Fund community. Keep an eye out for the insights and learnings from us in the coming weeks!
Since 2023, in Georgia, a series of legislative changes have targeted civil society and independent media, tightening control over funding and imposing “foreign agent” labels that put activists and organizations at risk not only within Georgian borders but far beyond. For years, due to its political positionality and easy migration laws, Georgia has been a lifeline for activists fleeing repression in Russia, Belarus, and Azerbaijan, and for those displaced by the war in Ukraine. It is a role that it can no longer play.
Georgia’s decline from a regional democratic hub into an authoritarian state has had a significant impact on activists, movements, and organizations defending human rights and freedom of expression.
Grounded in Dalan Fund’s crisis-response grantmaking, since May 2024, we have been walking alongside the local organizers in their resistance strategies. DM us if you want to learn more about it!
Join us for our launch of the First Response Fund at Women Deliver!
The First Response Fund is a global pooled fund designed by and for women and girls in all their diversity. It moves humanitarian response funding to women, LBTQI+ and girl-led organizations in ODA-eligible countries through a global network of national, regional and multi-regional women’s and feminist funds. The First Response Fund is currently in a three-year pilot phase from September 2025 – 2028.
Next week, feminists, friends and allies will be heading to Melbourne (Naarm) to attend Women Deliver. Come join our side event to learn about the fund and meet the people behind it — including a number of the folks pictured here, working behind the scenes during consultations at CSW in 2025.
Be part of a conversation about what the First Response Fund means for the feminist funding landscape. We look forward to seeing you there!
Click here for more information and to RSVP: https://lnkd.in/eygpuzni
We are excited to announce that after a long path of rebranding, we have just launched our new website.
Designed around the arch, a symbol of passage, gathering, and freedom — concepts that encapsulate the core identity of Dalan Fund. It also echoes our name across CEECCNA languages, a small detail we love.
Inspired by patterns from across the regions, symbolizing the power of connection across identities, geographies, and struggles, the website brings together our creation story, our funding mechanisms, and our approach to crisis work, all in one easy-to-navigate place.
Take a look to our new website and explore
➖How we resource movement resilience
➖How we move funds
➖What guides our work
➖And most importantly, the people behind it all; activists, advisors, and movement partners shaping our strategies and decision-making through participatory processes
Our new webpage — available in English and Russian — captures the most up-to-date information on what we are up to.
🔗Link in bio and in the first comment 👇
Встречайте «Fundacja Interakcja» — первая и единственная организация в Польше, занимающаяся защитой прав интерсекс-людей. Фонд выступает за телесную автономию и неприкосновенность, уделяя особое внимание защите интерсекс-детей и молодёжи от медицинского вмешательства без их согласия, а также от стигматизации и дискриминации.
С момента своей официальной регистрации в 2020 году «Fundacja Interakcja» привлекает внимание общества к правам интерсекс-людей и способствует реальным переменам. Соучредитель Магда Ракита отмечает, что прежде эта тема в Польше во многом замалчивалась, ресурсы были крайне ограничены — как для самих интерсекс-людей, так и для их родителей, врачей и педагогов. В общественном дискурсе для описания опыта интерсекс-людей преобладали проблематичные, вводящие в заблуждение нарративы и терминология.
Работа организации разворачивается в непростом контексте: дети и люди, рожденные с вариациями половых характеристик, нередко становятся объектом политической инструментализации. Изменения в сфере финансирования за последний год добавили ещё один уровень сложности — впервые с 2019 года фонду не удалось провести ежегодную встречу сообщества, столь важную для общения, взаимной поддержки и обмена опытом.
И все же, несмотря на все трудности, именно возможность оставаться на связи с единомышленниками и видеть изменения на уровне отдельных людей приносит радость команде и помогает двигаться вперед.
