Mama Cash is the oldest international women's fund in the world, founded in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in 1983. In 2013, Mama Cash supported 118 women's, girls and trans rights organisations with 4.3 million euros.

History

Mama Cash was founded in the Netherlands in 1983 by five

feminists Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

: Marjan Sax, Dorelies Kraakman, Patti Slegers, Tania Leon and Lida van den Broek. Marjan Sax provided the initial capital of $1,250,000, lending it to Mama Cash for an initial ten years, later extended by another five years. While initially uncomfortable with her inherited wealth, Sax felt it was important that activism be funded, and that money and ideals go together. Her philosophy inspired other wealthy women, and Mama Cash started a group called De Erfdochters (Women With Inherited Wealth). In 2000, Mama Cash was one of the nine founding members of the International Network of Women's Funds The founders of Mama Cash believed that women are best able to achieve structural change in their own context, and that small, autonomous women's groups were critical to achieving this change. However, since most groups at the time needed small grants (mostly less than $10,000), large grantmaking organisations were not equipped to give such small grants or have the expertise to support these grassroots organisations. In the early years, Mama Cash mostly gave start-up money to initiatives that supported women's autonomy over their bodies, including groups that supported

sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

rights, safe

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

and sex workers' rights. One such initiative was a Latina lesbian magazine, ''Esto no tiene nombre,'' which was organised and edited by a group of Latina lesbians including tatiana de la tierra, and it was meant to create a platform for discussion and awareness about this underrepresented minority of women. This philosophy continues to shape Mama Cash's development, with Mama Cash's main initiatives being Body (safety and autonomy of women's bodies), Money (equitable and just economic systems), Voice (women's decision-making), and Women's Funds (the global network of women's funds). To mark the thirty year anniversary of Mama Cash's existence in 2013, ''Alliance'' magazine interviewed Nicky McIntyre, the Executive Director. At the time, McIntyre reflected on the impact of women's rights organisations over the past three decades, saying: "The work of women’s rights movements has led to nothing short of a revolution in public attitudes, law and governance, in the private sector and civil society. While many women’s rights groups are small, their aggregate impact is enormous."

References

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External links

Official website
1983 establishments in the Netherlands Feminist organisations in the Netherlands Non-profit organisations based in the Netherlands Women's rights organizations Organizations established in 1983 Philanthropic organizations