Women for WomenInternational

By Debbie Miller

Our Values and Mission

▪Women for Women International envisions a world where no one is abused, poor, illiterate or marginalized; where members of communities have full and equal participation in the processes that ensure their health, well-being and economic independence; and where everyone has the freedom to define the scope of their life, their future and strive to achieve their full potential.

Our Program▪Our program works with women in eight

countries where war and conflict have devastated lives and communities.

▪The women are enrolled in a one-year program where they learn job skills and receive business training so they can earn a living and be self-sustaining.

▪They come to understand their rights and how to fight for those rights in their homes, their communities and their nations to become leaders.

Inputs

▪Women for Women International needs money to sponsor women, and the tools and resources she receives as she progresses through the program, such as job-skills trainers, equipment and other vital staff members.

Outputs▪In 2008, we distributed more than $23 million

in direct aid and microcredit loans, increasing the total amount distributed in our 15-year history to $84 million;

▪Served more than 77,000 women, benefiting more than 414,000 family and community members; and

▪Facilitated the exchange of more than 108,000 letters between sponsors and their sisters.

Process▪When we enroll women in our one-year

program, they learn job skills and receive business training so they can earn a living. They come to understand their rights and how to fight for those rights in their homes, communities and nations.

▪Equipped with job-skills training and basic business education, along with an awareness of their rights, women go on to become leaders in their communities, inspiring other women to follow in their steps.

Outcomes

▪Women sustain an income: Income and asset management

▪Women are well: Awareness, protection and prevention

▪Women are decision-makers: Family and community decision-making

▪Women have social networks and safety nets: Solidarity for support and protection

▪When these four key outcomes are met, women experience lasting change and are positioned to be active citizens. Active citizenship is when a woman engages socially, civically and economically for the betterment of her family and community. As active citizens, women can become leaders of community change that lead to peaceful and stable societies.

Goals

Our programs are organized into three stages as women increase their access to resources and knowledge:

1. Creating Awareness: Improving women's access to knowledge about their value and the importance of women's rights and societal roles.

Goals

2. Promoting Behavior Change: Encouraging a woman's willingness to actively make decisions in her family and community, apply knowledge to maintain physical and psychological wellness, to form or join women's and community groups and take advantage of economic opportunities.

Goals

▪3. Enabling Action: Providing opportunities to develop personal and group plans for action to allow women to become active citizens individually and in solidarity with other women. In addition, women are provided with support and access to essential services such as microcredit loans, legal assistance, cooperative and employment opportunities and social networks.

Community NeedThere is a demonstrated need for this program in our community:

▪ Due to war and other trageties, these women have lost husbands and/or family members, their homes and/or communities, and have no where to turn.

▪The Women for Women program counsels and educates these women in order for them to become self-sufficient and provide a living for themselves and their children.

Appeal to Shuttleworth Foundation

▪The Shuttleworth Foundation supports exceptional people to change the world in extraordinary ways and it sponors and funds programs in Africa.

▪Women for Women International is one of these exceptional organizations that are changing the lives of so many women and their families in Africa by raising their self-esteem and making them self-sufficient.

Shuttleworth’s work is inspired by two things:

▪ 1. The idea that it is people who change the world for the better; and

▪ 2. That if we are rigorously open about ideas and practices, more people will copy them and make the world a better place in a shorter period of time.

▪Women for Women is also inspired to aggrandize the lifes of women in positive ways with substantive education, job training, financial awareness and self-sufficiency.

Critical Thinking & Critical Action

▪We teach women their rights, job skills, and business training.

▪By cultivating a woman’s knowledge of her rights, she can participate actively in her community and better her live and the lives of others.

Critical Thinking & Critical Action

▪Women use the tools that our program provides to conceptualize and adapt their new skills into income producing products and/or services.

▪We are vigilant in our efforts to help women implement their skills into employment sustaining areas.

▪We believe that lasting change can only be achieved when women have access to both knowledge and resources.

Involvement

▪The money your sponsored sister receives provides her with a stipend that she can use as she chooses; to pay for basic necessities such as food and shelter, cover school fees or invest in income-generating activities.

▪For less than $30 per month, you can sponsor a woman in this year-long program.

▪The remainder of your sponsorship donations supports the tools and resources a sister receives as she progresses through the program, such as job-skills trainers, equipment and other vital staff members.

Thank you!▪Helping Restore Women's

Lives Worldwide

▪Women for Women International works in eight war-torn and post-conflict countries in Africa, the Balkans and the Middle East. Our programs help give women the support and training they need to be economically self-sufficient and become leaders in their communities.