Women for Women International

Overview

Women for Women International helps women in war-torn regions rebuild their lives by giving them financial and emotional support, job skills training, rights education, access to capital, and assistance for small business development. Women for Women International received the 2006 Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize, presented to organizations that “significantly alleviates human suffering" and has received four stars from Charity Navigator for financial management and organizational efficiency for two consecutive years.

Mission

Women for Women International provides women survivors of war, civil strife and other conflicts with the tools and resources to move from crisis and poverty to stability and self-sufficiency, thereby promoting viable civil societies.

Program

Women for Women International mobilizes women to change their lives by bringing a holistic approach to addressing the unique needs of women in conflict and post-conflict environments.

We begin by working with women who may have lost everything in conflict and often have nowhere else to turn. Participation in our one-year program launches women on a journey from victim to survivor to active citizen. We identify services to support graduates of the program as they continue to strive for greater social, economic and political participation in their communities.

As each woman engages in a multi-phase process of recovery and rehabilitation, she opens a window of opportunity presented by the end of conflict to help improve the rights, freedoms and status of women in her country. As women who go through our program assume leadership positions in their villages, actively participate in the reconstruction of their communities, build civil society, start businesses, train other women and serve as role models, they become active citizens who can help to establish lasting peace and stability.

Impact

Since 1993, Women for Women International has served 73,000 women in 8 countries, benefiting more than 398,000 family and community members, and has distributed $28 million in direct aid and microcredit loans.

As women access economic opportunities, they invest in the future, by feeding their families, sending their children to school, starting savings programs and participating in the local economy. Following participation in our program, women report an increased awareness of their rights; a greater level of self-esteem; a new connection to women in their community; increased participation in political processes, including voting; and increased income.

Countries of Operation

Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, Congo, the Democratic Republic of the, Iraq, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sudan