Feminism, innovative finance and the Equality Fund: doing well while doing good?

This paper examines the controversies surrounding a feminist ‘innovative finance’ initiative focusing on a case study of the Equality Fund. In 2019, the Government of Canada provided a CAD 300 million contribution to establish multistakeholder partnership known as the Equality Fund, a platform that uses innovative financing, including through its 100% gender lens investment portfolio, the revenue from which is channelled towards grants to women's rights organisations and feminist movements in the global South. Based on interviews with key informants from non-governmental, development cooperation organisations involved in research or advocacy in Canada and beyond we examine the structure and goals of the Equality Fund in light of contrasting interpretations of feminism and debates about the financialisation of development.