Women for Women International mobilizes women to change their lives through a holistic approach that addresses the unique needs of women in conflict and post-conflict environments by providing them with the necessary tools and resources to move beyond crisis and poverty toward stability and self-sufficiency, thereby ultimately promoting viable civil societies.
Women for Women International begins by working with women who may have lost everything in conflict and often have nowhere else to turn. Participation in their one-year program launches women on a journey from victim to survivor to active citizen. The organization identifies 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 the 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.
Women begin in the Sponsorship Program where direct financial aid from a sponsor helps them deal with the immediate effects of war and conflict such as lack of food, water, medicine and other necessities. Exchanging letters with sponsors provides women with an emotional lifeline and a chance to tell their stories - maybe for the first time. As their situations begin to stabilize, women in the program begin building a foundation for their lives as survivors.
While continuing to receive sponsorship support, women embark on the next leg of the journey and participate in the Renewing Women's Life Skills (ReneWLS) Program that provides them with rights awareness, leadership education and vocational and technical skills training. Women build upon existing skills and learn new ones in order to regain their strength, stability and stature on the path to becoming active citizens.
Women for Women International believes that establishing a means to earn a sustainable living is critical to being fully active in the life of a family, community and country. To help women transform their new skills into financial independence and sustainability, they offer job skills training to strengthen women's existing skills and to introduce new skills in traditional and non-traditional fields so women can access future employment opportunities.
Building on the skills training program, Women for Women International offers comprehensive business services designed to help women start and manage their own micro-enterprises. The organization gives them access to capital and operates micro-credit programs in Afghanistan and Bosnia & Herzegovina with an overall repayment rate of 98%. They give women access to markets by facilitating product sales through outside retailers and provide expertise such as product design, production assistance and business development workshops. They also help women form micro-enterprises such as production facilities and cooperative stores to sell the goods these women produce.
View the Other Side of War - by Zainab Salbi: Founder and CEO, Women for Women International
Listen to Alice Walker read her introduction and view slideshow. *Then buy it here from Amazon.*
Founded in 1993 by Zainab Salbi, Women for Women International has empowered over 153,000 women survivors of war to move toward economic self-sufficiency with its year-long program of direct aid, rights education, job skills training, and small business development. The organization has distributed $42 million in direct aid, micro-credit loans, and other program services, while having mobilized more than 125,000 women and men in 105 countries worldwide to reach out and support women survivors of war - one woman at a time.
© Copyright 2008 Women for Women International
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