“I’ve always had a passion for technology and dreams of working to provide for myself and my family. But as a 25-year-old Syrian woman far from home and living in a camp, it was difficult.”
– Amra, a graduate of CRF-funded vocational training
Conflict Response Fund
Responding to the critical needs of women survivors of war through local partnerships.
Around the world, more countries are experiencing some form of violent conflict than at any other time in the last 30 years. By 2030, The World Bank predicts that 2/3 of the most impoverished communities will be plunged into fragility, conflict and violence.
From Afghanistan to Syria, Nigeria to Yemen, women suffer the most in a conflict. They are forced to flee their homes to escape violence and routinely face the threat of sexual violence in the form of rape, forced marriage, and sexual slavery. Increasingly, women and girls are targeted by the use of sexual violence as a tactic of war.
We believe that stronger women build stronger nations, and that with access to knowledge, resources, and a support network, one woman can transform her life, her family, her community, and even the world.
Women for Women International primarily serves women survivors of conflict and war in nine countries where we’ve established dedicated offices and staff to deliver our year-long Stronger Women, Stronger Nations program.
We also recognize women need immediate support when caught in the midst of conflict.
In 2018, we launched our Conflict Respond Fund in order to act quickly and invest in women in emerging conflict zones around the world. Through our non-partisan approach and responsive grants, Women for Women International is able to track crises in real time, identify credible partners on the ground and allocate resources to meet the urgent needs of women survivors, no matter what side of a conflict they are on.
Together, with the local expertise of our partners and our decades of experience using a women-centered holistic approach, we help women rebuild their lives by providing:
SAFE SPACES
Dedicated, safer spaces for women to gather
GBV PREVENTION
Gender-based violence counseling and prevention strategies
COUNSELING
trauma-informed care and counseling
EDUCATION
Vocational training and education
Conflict Response Fund Partners
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.
Currently, we are working with partners in Burkina Faso, Mali, Myanmar, Sudan, Syria, and Ukraine. Past grants include Ethiopia, Yemen, and Bangladesh.
Burkina Faso
We are partnering with the Association D’appui d’Eveil Pugsada (Pugsada Awakening Support Association), the Association pour la Promotion Féminine de Gaoua (Association for the Promotion of Women of Gaoua) and the Association Munyu des Femmes (Munyu Women’s Association) to address food insecurity, support internally displaced women, promote women’s rights and to provide holistic care through a listening center.
Mali
We are working with Femmes et Développement (Women and Development), the Yam Gitibolo Tumo (YA-G-TU) and with Association Malienne pour le Suivi et l'Orientation des Pratiques Traditionnelles (The Malian Association for the Monitoring and Orientation of Traditional Practices) to combat food insecurity and promote the elimination of VAW among internally displaced in Mali.
Sudan
To provide urgent support for internally displaced women in Sudan, we are identifying local partners on the ground, one of whom is Zenab Women for Development (ZWD).
Through our partnership, the funds allocated to ZWD will provide internally displaced women in Gezira and Gedaref with emergency kits containing food like rice, sugar, oil and flour, as well as essential items like soap and sanitary pads, to sustain their livelihood.
We have also partnered with the Sudanese Organization for Research and Development (SORD), a local organization dedicated to human rights and gender equality, to provide internally displaced women and girls with dignity kits containing flashlights and whistles. Through our partnership working with SORD to provide trauma-informed counseling and to document cases of gender-based violence.
Ukraine
In partnership with The Andreev Foundation, Berginya and the HumanDoc Foundation in Poland, we are working to provide holistic and comprehensive care to women and children evacuated from Mariupol. Through these local partners, we assist in ensuring that they have access to dedicated safer spaces, medical care such as psychosocial support and gynecological consultations with doctors; gender-based violence counseling and prevention strategies, trauma-informed care and legal assistance.
In 2022, we also partnered with D.O.M.48.24 to host “Coworking for Cosmetologists,” which was coordinated to invest in the financial independence of internally displaced women of the Russo-Ukrainian War.
Read the latest on our Ukraine emergency response.
Myanmar
In 2017, around 700,000 Rohingya Muslims living in Myanmar were chased from their homes by the army and allied militias. Through our Conflict Response Fund, we’ve partnered with the Center for Social Integrity to support the access of literacy, numeracy, and life skills for Rohingya women and adolescent girls who remain in Myanmar. Learn more.
Syria
In partnership with Women Now for Development, we are investing in opportunities for Syrian women and girls to rebuild their lives. To date, 417 Syrian women and girls have accessed educational and health resources, gained vocational skills to become self-sufficient and created social networks through CRF-funded safe spaces. Read how, through the Conflict Response Fund, Amra was able to pursue her passion for technology and start her own business. Learn more.
Your donation will help provide women survivors of war a safe space for rehabilitation as well as medical care that includes psychological and gynecological consultations with doctors.