Project Independence: Women Survivors of War 2003 - 2007

In partnership with Women for Women International

Women for Women International’s contract with Soroptimist International provides that Soroptimist International will raise awareness and funds to expand capacity of WWI’s programs in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Rwanda as well as to support 1,200 individual women directly as they move from victim to survivor to active citizen through the above three programs, and 600 women in attaining microcredit loans. Perhaps most impressively, Women for Women International closed its partnership with Soroptimist International by wildly exceeding its fundraising and outreach goals:

Sponsorship

• Goal: 1,200 women sponsored through Project Independence
• Result: 1,960 women sponsored, exceeding goal by 63%

Microcredit

• Goal: 600 women in Bosnia and Afghanistan receive loans through Project Independence
• Result: Met goal with 600 women receiving loans – additional funds raised by Soroptimist International provided some of the seed funding to help us to launch our lending activities in Afghanistan.

Fundraising

• Goal: $1.2 million raised to support women and activities in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Rwanda
• Result: $2.2 million raised, exceeding goal by 83%

This project was extremely important to Soroptimist members who tirelessly conducted creative awareness, advocacy and action programs to support and promote it The service provided to the women included the following:

• Provided Sponsorship → Each woman got a small stipend and was assigned a Soroptimist sister - who sent letters to her of encouragement and emotional support for that entire year.
• Renewing Women’s Life Education Training → which gave them practical skills for life, health, money management, leadership development, Rights Training and many more topics
• Job Skills Training → Each woman learned specific job skills that would assist her in supporting herself in the future. Women chose skills to learn that were sustainable after the program - they learned how to produce reliable products, and how to market them after they produced them.
• Microcredit Loans → In Bosnia and Afghanistan 600 women received microcredit loans after they graduated to help them start their own businesses.

Women for Women International provides its core program in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Rwanda to address the immediate and long-term needs of women in conflict and post-conflict environments. With the support of Soroptimist International and Project Independence: Women Survivors of War, Women for Women International deepened and expanded its program services in 2007 to provide 29,470 additional women with our programs in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Rwanda, a more than 460 percent increase over the 5,200 women served in these three countries in 2004.