Women for Women International

Women for Women International (WfWI) is a nonprofit humanitarian organization that provides practical and moral support to women survivors of war. WfWI helps such women rebuild their lives after war’s devastation through a year-long tiered program that begins with direct financial aid and emotional counseling and includes life skills (e.g., literacy, numeracy) training if necessary, rights awareness education, health education, job skills training and small business development. The organization was co-founded in 1993 by Zainab Salbi, an Iraqi American who is herself a survivor of the Iran–Iraq War and Salbi’s then-husband Amjad Atallah. From 2012 to 2014, WfWI was led by Afshan Khan, a long-time former executive with UNICEF who became WfWI’s first new CEO since founder Zainab Salbi stepped down to devote more time to her writing and lecturing. Jennifer L. Windsor is the current CEO.

Headquartered in Washington, DC, WfWI has executive/fundraising offices in London and New York and programmatic offices in eight post-conflict countries: Afghanistan (program inception 2002); Bosnia and Herzegovina (1994); Democratic Republic of Congo (2002); Iraq (2003); Kosovo (1999); Nigeria (2000); Rwanda (1997); and South Sudan (2006).

Women for Women International was founded by a wife and husband, Zainab Salbi and Amjad Atallah, who were motivated to act after learning of the plight of women in rape camps during the Yugoslav Wars and the slow response of the international community. WfWI launched its activities by creating "sister-to-sister" connections between sponsors in the United States and women survivors of war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In its first year, Women for Women International worked with eight women, distributing about $9,000 in direct aid. As the organization gained experience, its staff came to understand that financial assistance alone was not a sufficient response for women who had lost everything. Women survivors of war, especially those left widowed, also needed to cultivate an understanding of their rights and potential as women, develop marketable skills, and find a way to generate stable income.

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