Masimanyane Women's Rights International, working on the continent, has been granted more than a million dollars in funds for their work in ending violence against women and girls.

The organisation's rural network and strong footprint in the most marginalised communities has provided social support services to more than 135,000 women and girls who have survived rape, domestic violence and other forms of sexual assault.

"Masimanyane Women's Rights International is honoured to be included by the Novo Foundation in their Radical Hope grant. We are ... proud to be one of only 19 organisations to be awarded this grant globally, and one of only four in Africa. This is a huge acknowledgement of the work that Masimanyane does in Africa, and beyond. Our strength lies in the fact that we are locally rooted, and globally connected. We look forward to growing a movement to end violence against women and girls," says Dr Lesley Ann Foster, Executive Director of Masimanyane Women’s Rights International.

The group was successful in their application to the Radical Hope Fund from NoVo Foundation, which grants 19 organisations from among 1,000 "doing bold and transformative social justice work in the United States and around the world".

"The Radical Hope Fund grantees show us that radical innovation is already happening, feminist organizing is already leading our way, and the answer so many are looking for in these challenging times is already in front of us, if only we are willing to back it up with the trust and support it deserves," says Pamela Shifman, executive director of the NoVo Foundation.

The Foundation believes the fund is the first of its kind and a "direct response to alarming worldwide trends: the resurgence of hate speech and violence, escalating assaults on human and civil rights, widening wealth inequality, and the rise in nativism".