 | |
| Abbreviation | IWDA |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1985 |
| Founded at | Melbourne, Australia |
| Type | Non-governmental organisation |
| Website | http://www.iwda.org.au |
International Women's Development Agency Inc. (IWDA) is an Australian non-profit organisation that works to support women's rights in Asia and the Pacific.
International Women’s Development Agency is a secular, non-profit agency, founded in 1985 and based in Melbourne. Its three founding members were: Ruth Pfanner, Wendy Poussard and Wendy Rose. [1] IWDA was formed to break down the barriers that prohibit the full equality of women in every country, but in particular in the Asia-Pacific region. [2] It adheres to the ten principles of the UN's Global Compact. [3] In 2000, the IWDA funded its 300th overseas project. [1] As of 2017, the organisation had worked with 194 partnership organisations in 36 countries. [1] In 2021, the organisation's total income was over 14 million Australian dollars. [4]
IWDA undertakes projects in partnership with women from the Asia-Pacific region. [5] These projects are devised and managed by women who live and work in the communities themselves, fostering practical and innovative responses to the most critical issues facing them. [5] IWDA focuses on three main areas of women's rights: civil and political participation, economic empowerment and sustainable livelihoods, and safety and security. [6] The IWDA supports individual deprivation measure research into poverty.
The project has partnerships in Cambodia, Timor-Leste, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Myanmar and its borders, amongst others. [6] IWDA also works across research, policy & advocacy to advance women's rights. [6] Its work has expanded to include issues relating to LGBT communities. [4]
The IWDA's first overseas programme started in the Philippines in 1986, providing healthcare to women. [1]
In the Solomon Islands, the IWDA has partnered with Women’s Rights Action Movement in order to promote increased participation in political life, in particular at a provincial level, as well as working with WRAM to combat other aspects of discrimination against women in the country. [7]
The Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) is an inter-governmental organisation that aims to enhance cooperation among countries and territories of Oceania, including formation of a trade bloc and regional peacekeeping operations. It was founded in 1971 as the South Pacific Forum (SPF), and changed its name in 1999 to "Pacific Islands Forum", so as to be more inclusive of the Forum's Oceania-spanning membership of both north and south Pacific island countries, including Australia.
The United Nations Global Compact is a non-binding United Nations pact to get businesses and firms worldwide to adopt sustainable and socially responsible policies, and to report on their implementation. The UN Global Compact is the world's largest corporate sustainability and corporate social responsibility initiative, with more than 20,000 corporate participants and other stakeholders in over 167 countries. The organization consists of a global agency, and local "networks" or agencies for each participating country. Under the Global Compact, companies are brought together with UN agencies, labour groups and civil society.
Islamic Relief Worldwide describes itself as "a faith-inspired humanitarian and development agency which is working to support and empower the world's most vulnerable people".
Engineers Without Borders Australia (EWB) is an Australian non-profit organisation with 20 active chapters, operating nationally and internationally with the published aim of improving the quality of life of disadvantaged communities through education and the implementation of sustainable engineering projects. EWB Australia was established in 2003 by a group of engineers from Melbourne who were motivated to take action on the developmental front through engineering.
Australian Volunteers International or AVI recruits skilled professionals from Australia to work with partner organisations in Asia, the Pacific, Africa and the Middle East. Its work focuses on reducing poverty, promoting human rights and gender equality, increasing access to education and health services, and protecting the environment.
The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues is the UN's central coordinating body for matters relating to the concerns and rights of the world's indigenous peoples. There are more than 370 million indigenous people in some 70 countries worldwide.
The Australian Council For International Development (ACFID) is an independent national association of Australian non-government organisations (NGOs) working in the field of international aid and development. ACFID was founded in 1965, with Syd Einfeld as Chairman, and has over 130 members working in 90 developing countries and supported by over 1.5 million Australians. It lobbies for non-government aid organisations, and Australian government development aid.
MSI Reproductive Choices, named Marie Stopes International until November 2020, is an international non-governmental organisation providing contraception and safe abortion services in 37 countries around the world. MSI Reproductive Choices as an organisation lobbies in favour of access to abortion, and provides a variety of sexual and reproductive healthcare services including advice, vasectomies, and abortions in the UK and other countries where it is legal to do so. It is based in London and is a registered charity under English law.
Australian People for Health, Education and Development Abroad (APHEDA), also known as Union Aid Abroad, is a non-government organisation of the Australian union movement. The non-government organisation was established in 1984 as the international aid agency of the Australian Council of Trade Unions. APHEDA was initiated in the pursuit of global justice through “stronger union and social movements, sustainable development programs, global solidarity and support in times of crisis” in Southeast Asia, the Pacific, the Middle East, South Africa and the Caribbean. APHEDA is also a registered charity with the Australian Charities and Not for Profits Commission.
The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) is an Australian Government statutory agency that forms part of the overseas aid program in the Foreign Affairs and Trade Portfolio, reporting to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. ACIAR was established under the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research Act 1982, as amended, to identify agricultural problems in developing problems and brokers Australian agricultural scientists to find solutions.
UNICEF, originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide. The organization is one of the most widely known and visible social welfare entities globally, operating in 192 countries and territories. UNICEF's activities include providing immunizations and disease prevention, administering treatment for children and mothers with HIV, enhancing childhood and maternal nutrition, improving sanitation, promoting education, and providing emergency relief in response to disasters.
Devex is a social enterprise and media platform for the global development community. It aims to connect with and inform development, health, humanitarian, and sustainability professionals through news, business intelligence, funding and career opportunities related to international development. As an independent news organization, Devex employs more than 100 staff members in different locations, including Washington, D.C., where the organization is headquartered. It also maintains offices in Barcelona and Manila.
Canada is a member of various international organizations and forums. Canada was a founding member of the United Nations in 1945 and formed the North American Aerospace Defense Command together with the United States in 1958. The country has membership in the World Trade Organization, the Five Eyes, the G7 and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The country joined the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1990, and seeks to expand its ties to Pacific Rim economies through membership in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC). Canada ratified the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, and seven principal UN human rights conventions and covenants since then. As of 2023, Canada is a signatory to 15 free trade agreements with 51 different countries, and has diplomatic and consular offices in over 270 locations in approximately 180 countries.
Elizabeth Anne Reid AO, FASSA, is an Australian development practitioner, feminist and academic with a distinguished career in and significant contribution to national and international public service. She founded, established and worked with a number of pioneering and specialised United Nations institutions, government agencies and non-governmental organisations. Reid was appointed the world's first advisor on women's affairs to a head of government by the Australian Labor Government of Gough Whitlam in 1973.
Women in Tuvalu continue to maintain a traditional Polynesian culture within a predominantly Christian society. Tuvaluan cultural identity is sustained through an individual's connection to their home island. In the traditional community system in Tuvalu, each family has its own task, or salanga, to perform for the community. The skills of a family are passed on from parents to children. The women of Tuvalu participate in the traditional music of Tuvalu and in the creation of the art of Tuvalu including using cowrie and other shells in traditional handicrafts. There are opportunities of further education and paid employment with non-government organisations (NGOs) and government enterprises, education and health agencies being the primary opportunities for Tuvaluan women.
Women's Rights Action Movement (WRAM) is a women's rights organisation based in the Solomon Islands, which campaigns for greater representation of women in politics, as well as advocating for changes to the governance of the country to enable gender parity.
Pionie Boso is a women's rights activist from the Solomon Islands, who was awarded an International Women of Courage Award in 2011 for her work towards ending gender-based violence in the country.
Savina Nongebatu is a Solomon Islands disability rights advocate who led People with Disabilities Solomon Islands between 2004 and 2011, and served as the deputy CEO of the Pacific Disability Forum between 2018 and 2019.
Elizabeth (Sabet) Cox is an Australian national who has lived and worked in the East Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea (PNG) for four decades. Together with others, she founded HELP-Resources, an NGO with a focus on rural and grassroots communities, in 1998. She later became Pacific Regional Director of UN Women.
