International Women's Development Agency

International Women's Development Agency Inc. (IWDA) is an Australian non-profit organisation that supports positive change for women and their communities. IWDA’s practical and rights-based projects directly address poverty and inequality in developing countries. [http://www.developmentgateway.com.au/jahia/Jahia/pid/3227]

IWDA focuses primarily on Asia and the Pacific, and on five key areas of well-being: economic empowerment, freedom from violence and conflict, participation in decision-making, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and environmental sustainability. [http://www.developmentgateway.com.au/jahia/Jahia/pid/3227]

For over 20 years, the International Women’s Development Agency (IWDA) has worked with more than 100 grassroots organisations in the developing world, to support and advance the life choices and well being of women and their families. IWDA undertakes projects in partnership with women from the Asia Pacific region. These projects are devised and managed by women who live and work in the communities themselves, which fosters practical and innovative responses to the issues women’s view as most critical.

The development which IWDA promotes is the equitable growth of people and communities, and the just distribution of basic resources and respect for human rights. [http://www.iwda.org.au/au/about]

History

International Women’s Development Agency was created in Melbourne, Australia, in 1985 by three founding members: Ruth Pfanner, Wendy Poussard and Wendy Rose. Wendy Poussard was the first Executive Director, while the other founders volunteered their time as members of the Committee of Management for over 5 years to establish IWDA.

IWDA was formed “because women were virtually invisible as planners and managers of development programs”, as Wendy Poussard stated, and in recognition of the fact that women do less well than men as a group in every country.

From the start, IWDA has taken a different approach to development. The development projects that IWDA supports are devised and implemented by women who live and work in the communities themselves, helping to ensure relevance and effectiveness. As an organisation committed to women’s human rights and women’s political and economic empowerment, we seek to lead by example, showing how development is done better and outcomes improved when women are involved and the barriers to their participation are consciously identified and addressed. [http://www.iwda.org.au/au/about]

Work

Today, IWDA focuses on Asia and the Pacific. Currently we have project partnerships in Cambodia, East Timor, Fiji, Maldives, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thai-Burma border, Vanuatu and Vietnam.

IWDA has developed a Strategic Directions 2008-2013 document to guide our work over the next five years. The cornerstones of this work are: pathways to engaged and informed citizenship; policy influence and gender justice.

There are six program goals and three cross-cutting issues designed to focus our work in catalysing transformational change for women and girls. These are supported by 7 organisational change goals to help build a more robust, responsive and effective organisation. [http://www.iwda.org.au/au/about/strategic-directions]

External links

* [http://www.iwda.org.au Official website]

References

http://www.developmentgateway.com.au/jahia/Jahia/pid/3227