Women in war-torn countries bear the brunt of both poverty and conflict. Women for Women International strives to support them by responding to conflict when we are most needed and can make the most impact.
Women in war-torn countries bear the brunt of both poverty and conflict. Women for Women International strives to support them by responding to conflict when we are most needed and can make the most impact.
By 2030, The World Bank forecasts that 50 percent of those living in poverty will be in fragile and conflict-affected states, up from 17 percent currently. What is required in these contexts is sustainable investment in women to help them rebuild societies from the ground up. This is where Women for Women International excels.
Conflict response, usually launched through partnerships with local organizations, is a fundamental part of our DNA. In the Balkans, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Nigeria, South Sudan, and Afghanistan partnerships led us to establish our programs. In 2017, after two years of partnerships, we opened our country office in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, to support women impacted by conflict in Iraq and Syria, including Yezidi women persecuted by ISIS. In Bauchi State, Nigeria, we started up new activities to serve women displaced by conflict—many fleeing Boko Haram’s violence.
In 2018, we launched a new Conflict Response Fund—a separate funding pool to more rapidly help women who are caught in the current horrors of our time. The Conflict Response Fund allows us to be agile and flexible and innovative with our delivery. In times of volatility and crisis, entering immediately with all components of our integrated program is not possible. With this Fund, we can quickly initiate activities with a local partner to respond to urgent, unmet needs of women survivors of war. For example, we just launched activities in one of the largest refugee camps in the world in Cox’s Bazaar, Bangladesh, to support young Rohingya women with vocational skills training to help them develop a livelihood and earn an income.
Our work is far from over. Together with your help, we stand poised to engage and start supporting women survivors of war in new conflict-affected countries that urgently need our help.
