Yet when we use this power it’s often viewed as a threat. Silenced, ignored, and undervalued — we make up half the world and half its potential, and are still excluded from the decisions that affect us.
Conflict and war deepen this injustice. A woman who goes through a violent conflict lives through brutality, sexual violence, extreme poverty, and the death of loved ones. Her home and community are left fractured in its wake. And when the conflict is over, the world’s attention moves on, leaving women without basic resources like food and water in a community that puts her last.
Since 1993, Women for Women International has invested in the power of over 500,000 women who are forgotten — the women survivors of war and conflict — to learn the skills they need to rebuild their families and communities.
Our vision is to create a world in which all women determine the course of their lives and reach their full potential.
In Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Kosovo, Nigeria, Rwanda, and South Sudan, a woman who enrolls in our program breaks the isolation of war and conflict by joining a small group of women like her. Together with her classmates, she learns a practical job skill like tailoring or poultry-keeping. She learns how to run this as a business while saving money. She gains valuable health knowledge so that she can provide the right nutrition for herself and her family while learning about her reproductive health. She also learns about her right to vote, to inherit property, and to prevent violence and domestic abuse.
Through the Stronger Women, Stronger Nations Program, she connects with women like herself, and together they form a support system. They run their own business and earn an income. They are healthier and stronger. They make their voices and opinions heard. They question unspoken beliefs and norms that hold women back.
They have the power to transform our world.
We know that women pass on their knowledge to their neighbors and children, creating a ripple effect for generations. By investing in women, we create a better world for all of us – a world that’s more equal, peaceful, and prosperous. That is the power of women, for women.