Women for Women
“Around the world, women face some of the greatest obstacles YET also represent tremendous opportunity for lasting social and economic development. As a result of war and conflict, women and girls often lose everything that ever mattered to them, including their sense of self. Their voices are silenced. And even if they were to speak, there is no safe place where they can voice their pain.
During and after conflict, women are particularly vulnerable to violence and exploitation (About 70% of casualties in recent conflicts are women and children (UNIFEM) and the forms of violence they experience include torture, rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution and mutilation (UN).
Women for Women International
Zainab Salbi is Founder and CEO of Women for Women International, a grassroots humanitarian organisation helping women survivors of war rebuild their lives. She is the author of two books; a national bestseller “Between Two Worlds: Escape from Tyranny: Growing Up in the Shadow of Saddam (with Laurie Becklund) that documents her life under Saddam Hussein’s rule and “The Other Side of War: Women’s Stories of Survival and Hope.” Her work has been featured in major media outlets, including 8 appearances on “The Oprah Winfrey Show”, CNN, The Washington Post, and The New York Times.
Women begin in their Sponsorship Programme 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 stabilise, women in the programme begin building a foundation for their lives as survivors.
Participation in their one-year programme launches women on a journey from victim to survivor to active citizen. They identify services to support graduates of the programme as they continue to strive for greater social, economic and political participation in their communities.
Empowerment of Women Survivors of War
Since it’s inception, Women for Women International has empowered over 250,000 women survivors of war to move toward economic self-sufficiency. They have distributed $79 million in direct aid, microcredit loans, and other programme services. Since 1993, Women for Women International has mobilised 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.
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 their programme and assume leadership positions in their villages, they 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.
A Unique Experience
What if you could change the course of one woman’s life in a war-torn region of the world? And what if you knew her name? The Women for Women International’s creates a unique experience by building a one-to-one relationship between you and a woman who lives thousands of miles away.
Make a donation to Women for Women International. In doing so, you are helping thousands of women obtain a comprehensive education programme that includes women’s rights training, education, trauma counseling, and job skills to earn an income. All of these skills give her the tools to feed her family, send her daughters to school and create lasting change in her community.
What Your Support Means
Each country’s programme varies due to economic, political, cultural and religious factors. However, in all countries where they work, your monthly support ensures that your sister receives the following tools and support over the course of her one-year participation:
* Direct aid on a monthly basis in cash.
* Emotional support and encouragement from her trainers, fellow participants and from you, her sponsor.
* Training on leadership, rights awareness and the role of women in society.
* Job skills training applicable to the local economy.
* A network of women to connect with in her community.
* Small business assistance and in some countries Micro-cedit.
* Access to a variety of other programmes, depending on the country or region where your sister lives. These include, for example, literacy training in Kosovo, HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention training in Nigeria, savings and investment counseling in Rwanda and infant care classes in Afghanistan.
By sponsoring a woman, you not only provide her with the financial assistance she needs to get back on her feet but also the hope and emotional support that are the keys to rebuilding her life after war. ”
