- By withdrawing the United States from 66 international organizations, Donald Trump has taken a new step in his strategy to dismantle human rights, gender equality, and social justice on a global scale.
- Among the organizations involved are UN Women, the United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, and UNFPA, the fund working for sexual and reproductive health and rights around the world.
- The Francophone Feminist Alliance, coordinated by Equipop, the Fund for Women in the Mediterranean (FFMed) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), expresses its deep concern at this new announcement and reiterates its call on states to defend multilateralism.
January 9, 2026. In addition to undermining the fight against climate change and the protection of the environment, this decision threatens essential programs promoting gender equality, sexual and reproductive health and rights, the fight against gender-based violence, and support for civil society. The sudden deprivation of essential funds drastically reduces the capacity of multilateral agencies to act, at a time when rights are being rolled back and feminist movements are facing unprecedented pressure and threats.
French-speaking African countries and their feminist movements heavily impacted by US decisions
The withdrawal of the United States from these 66 international organizations is accompanied by restrictive mobility measures that have a severe impact on feminists and civil society organizations in many countries, particularly in French-speaking Africa. Such targeting directly affects them and deprives them of advocacy opportunities that are essential to advancing their cause, effectively preventing them from accessing many United Nations bodies based in New York.
These measures take various forms, including the restriction, applicable as of January 1, 2026, on the issuance of visas to nationals of 39 countries (and to persons presenting travel documents issued or endorsed by the Palestinian Authority) , as well as the implementation of a visa bond program . Nationals of the identified countries, mainly African, must pay a bond of up to $15,000 in order to obtain a temporary visa ( tourism and business). This policy makes spaces for negotiation, training, advocacy, and solidarity virtually inaccessible to the vast majority of activists and civil society organizations. The member organizations of the AFF denounce these discriminatory and racist measures implemented by the Trump administration.
The Francophone Feminist Alliance calls on United Nations member states to reject any move that would weaken the rights of women and LGBTQIA+ people. Faced with attempts to undermine these rights and the international mechanisms that protect them, they have a responsibility to mobilize and defend them with determination in order to preserve the fundamental principles of the multilateral system.
The Francophone Feminist Alliance (AFF) is an initiative led by Equipop, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), and the Fund for Women in the Mediterranean (FFMed), which helps to strengthen the participation of Francophone feminists in multilateral spaces, from the United Nations to the European Union and the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights.
Photo: US President Donald Trump speaking at the 2018 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland.
© Gage Skidmore
Contacts
Equipop: Chiara Ciampa, AFF Communications Officer, chiara.ciampa@equipop.org – Camille Frouin, Communications and Press Relations Officer, camille.frouin@equipop.org, +33 7 68 30 55 36
FFMed: Christelle Assaf, Program Manager , cassaf@medwomensfund.org
FIDH: Maxime Duriez, Press Relations Officer, mduriez@fidh.org, +33 6 48 05 91 57
