Women for Women International, headquartered in Washington DC, has an interesting mission to provide “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”.

Operating in such countries as Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Kosovo, Nigeria, Rwandan and Sudan, Women for Women Int’l has:

• Linked more than 120,000 women survivors of war with sponsors worldwide.

• Facilitated the translation and exchange of thousands of letters of support between sponsors and sponsored women.
• Enrolled and graduated more than 93,000 women in the organization’s Renewing Life Skills for Women (ReneWLS) leadership and rights awareness education training program.
• Helped thousands of women secure employment and establish their own income-
  generating businesses.
• Distributed more than $33 million in direct aid and microcredit loans, maintaining a 99% repayment rate on all loans.
• Facilitated hundreds of group therapy sessions for war survivors by providing a venue for women to share their experiences and feelings and build bridges between women survivors of different ethnic backgrounds.

The group offers financial and emotional support, job skills training in traditional and non-traditional fields, leadership education, microcredit loans, business services and contacts with suppliers/retailers, product design and production assistance, and an online virtual bazaar to market their goods.

Women for Women Internationals “Core Values and Beliefs” are wonderfully stated:

Equality: All people are free and equal in dignity and rights: civil, political, social, economic and cultural.

Empowerment: The women who we assist are the leaders in their own lives. Tools are provided for each woman to rebuild her life.

Respect: The women we support choose their own value system. Options are presented to each woman but she is responsible for her own choice.

Diversity: Women are not simply refugees or victims of war but are survivors and individuals. No two women require the same support to heal, and no two societies can be rebuilt in the same way. Communication among women of varied backgrounds, national origins, race, and religion – both those who need assistance and those who offer it – must honor each other’s differences.

Investment: The one-on-one approach deals with macro issues through micro solutions. By strengthening local chapters we attempt to build or strengthen civil society in the countries where we work.