The online campaign “A Choice That Matters,” spearheaded by the ASTRA Network and Dalan Fund, ran over the October to December in 2025 created multiple spaces to shed light on how Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) movements in Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central and North Asia (CEECCNA), already historically facing long periods of stagnation and declining philanthropic attention and funding, are now experiencing yet another wave of democratic backsliding and global defunding, pushing these movements to the brink of survival.

Across CEECCNA, sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) movements are working under unprecedented pressure, from political interference, social stigmatization, legal barriers, and persistent underfunding. 

“For SRHR movements across CEECCNA, this is not a sudden crisis but the cumulative result of years of underfunding combined with accelerating democratic backsliding. What is new is how close many organizations now are to the point of collapse. CEECCNA is too often treated as a ‘grey zone’ in global philanthropy — not quite Global South, not quite Global North — and this ambiguity translates directly into chronic underfunding,” said Ewa Szymera, ASTRA Network Coordinator, emphasizing the critical importance of the campaign.

As part of this campaign, activists from eight countries (Georgia, Kazakhstan, Romania, Armenia, Poland, Moldova, Latvia, and Hungary) shared how they experience the current moment through social media posts shared by ASTRA Network and Dalan Fund. 

Activists consistently stressed that when SRHR funding disappears, communities lose far more than services: inequalities between urban and rural areas deepen, groups at risk, including women living in poverty, young people, LGBTQ+ people, Romani communities, people with disabilities, and survivors of violence are left without care, and abusive, non-evidence-based practices persist unchecked and unseen. Many highlighted that defunding fuels burnout among activists who are already filling gaps left by the state, while progress achieved through years of grassroots organizing—from mobile clinics and telemedicine abortion to youth education and trauma-informed care—can be dismantled overnight by political pressure or neglect. 

The activists acknowledged that policy alone is insufficient; only sustained, trust-based feminist funding enables movements to develop long-term strategies, pay fair wages, maintain safe spaces, and respond promptly to emerging threats. 

“Local feminist organizations are not service providers filling technical gaps — they are political actors defending bodily autonomy and democratic space in increasingly hostile environments”, mentioned ASTRA Network Coordinator Ewa Szymera.

The campaign concluded with a webinar where activists from Slovakia, Hungary, Tajikistan, and Georgia reflected on the mounting pressures facing their work and the strategies that keep their movements alive.

Shifts in the funding landscape have created heightened competition for already limited resources. Even small funding fluctuations now have severe consequences: essential helplines face closure, core programs are being cut, and long-term capacity building, such as human rights summer schools in Slovakia, has already been suspended.

Legal restrictions associated with democratic backlash and anti-gender narratives are tightening across the regions. In Georgia, rapidly escalating legal restrictions, including requirements to disclose sensitive information about staff and beneficiaries, with non-compliance carrying the risk of imprisonment, are posing serious threats to civil society. Social justice groups in multiple countries echoed the fear that these pressures are designed not only to obstruct their work but to intimidate broader movements and silence dissent.

Speakers emphasized that the current climate demands more flexible, responsive funding. In Georgia, international support has been crucial in moments of acute crisis, allowing organizations to adapt quickly to new threats. However, traditional funding structures that are designed for visibility, metrics, and long-term planning are no longer suited to contexts where being visible can endanger staff and communities.

A call emerged for dual strategies: safeguarding what remains of existing funding ecosystems while developing new, security-aware models that protect activists working under criminalization, political hostility, and surveillance.

The speakers consistently emphasized three strategic frameworks for sustaining movements and organizations

• Flexible and predictable resources as a defense against burnout. They allow organizations to retain teams, plan strategically, and create stable, humane working conditions.
• Community-based care and solidarity work may not always produce large numbers, but their impact is deep and lasting. Trusting local organizations, who understand their contexts best, is key to ensuring meaningful and sustainable change.
• Information sharing, cross-border alliances, and mutual care are vital enablers for survival and sustaining long and demanding struggles.

The closing reflections emphasized the critical importance of investing in both immediate SRHR needs and long-term structural solutions, supporting advocacy and evidence-building, as well as amplifying women’s voices through media, public figures, and community networks. 

“Co-hosting this campaign with the ASTRA Network, while a reinstatement of deep solidarity and sisterhood, was not meant to be groundbreaking, but rather an obvious demonstration and a reminder of the human lives and bodies at stake when SRHR is not adequately funded,” added Lida Minasyan, Partnerships and Resource Mobilization Manager at Dalan Fund. 

Looking ahead, ASTRA Network and Dalan Fund will continue to keep SRHR in CEECCNA in focus by amplifying the voices of local movements, sharing regional analysis, and creating space for honest conversations between activists and funders about what truly sustainable, security-aware support looks like. In the coming months, we will publish further statements from supportive funders and from brave activists working on the frontlines of SRHR under increasingly difficult conditions.