Sex worker-led organisations and networks struggle to obtain sufficient, sustained funding for their work. For many years, the Open Society Foundations (OSF) was a leading funder of sex worker-led organisations, providing essential core flexible funding, including funding for advocacy, capacity strengthening and movement building. OSF staff that funded sex work had experience, understanding of and trust in the sex worker-led movement that enabled essential funds to flow to sex worker-led organisations and networks that were attuned to the needs of sex workers. There were also collaborative initiatives to advance the rights of sex workers. Financial support from OSF has played a significant role in the creation, growth, and success of sex worker-led organisations at the global, regional, subregional, and national levels. Due to recent changes in OSF’s structure and funding strategy, OSF will no longer fund sex worker programming beyond 2023. This departure marks a critical turning point for sex worker-led organisations and networks worldwide, who have long relied on OSF for core funding, while facing a shrinking pool of funding and shrinking spaces for sex workers and an environment of growing anti-rights and anti-gender movement, policies and laws. 

OSF provided funding to NSWP in 2023 to facilitate NSWP, together with regional and subregional sex worker-led networks, to strategise and plan for OSF’s departure, and to respond to the reduction in funding in the context of ongoing attacks on our rights and autonomy. This funding included funds for a global convening of sex worker representatives from the NSWP Secretariat, Red Umbrella Fund (RUF) and regional and sub-regional sex worker-led networks to discuss priorities and develop key messages in the realms of capacity-building, movement strengthening and funding. This meeting allowed representatives across the global sex worker movement to convene and discuss challenges, successes, and learnings. It facilitated peer-to-peer exchange, allowing participants to work together to articulate key messages and priorities for ensuring sustainability and success of the sex worker movement. This global convening is only the first stage of addressing funding and capacity-building challenges, however, and further work must be done to adapt and respond to an increasingly challenging funding and policy landscape.