Rutgers University Libraries Resource: Global Women's Activism: Selected Sites.

These sites represent entities devoted to worldwide women's activism. They include significant documents, UN affiliated NGOs, government agencies, academic institutions, research centers, as well as focus-specific organizations working on issues such as advocacy, empowerment, human rights, social justice, HIV/AIDS, prevention of violence against women, etc.

Each site contains links to the organizations' publications and other online resources useful for investigations on women and gender.

The list is arranged by continents and countries where the organizations are located and/or provide services.

The category "Transnational" lists organizations and other entries with transnational and international scope.

Relevant sites from different units at Rutgers University are also included.

Thematic List of Organizations & Internet Resources

Please note that the links below do not necessarily reflect the view or position of the Center for Women's Global Leadership. We apologize if any of the links are outdated. If you would like to correct, update, or add information or your organization to this list, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..  http://www.cwgl.rutgers.edu/globalcenter/useful.html

Organizations working on issues related to women's human rights

An alphabetical list of our core partner organizations working on women’s human rights issues.

Partner Organizations Working on Issues Related to Women's Human Rights

• Akina Mama wa Afrika: Based in the U.K. with an Africa regional office in Kampala, Uganda, AMwA is an international non-governmental development organization for African women, which coordinates local, regional and international initiatives. AMwA builds African women's leadership capacities to influence policy and decision making processes in their communities, by serving as a networking, information, advocacy and training forum.
• Amnesty USA - Women's Program: Based in the U.S., the Women's Human Rights Program focuses on promoting women's human rights within Amnesty's mandate. It seeks to stop the particular violations of civil and political rights that women and girls experience.
• Amnesty International: Stop Violence Against Women Campaign: The international division of Amnesty International focuses on women’s rights through the lens of stopping gender violence.
• Arab Women's Solidarity Association: Based in the U.S., AWSA is an international organization that promotes Arab women's active participation in social, economic, cultural, and political life.
• Association for Women in Development: Based in Canada, AWID is an international membership organization that connects, informs and mobilizes people and organizations committed to achieving gender equality, sustainable development and human rights for everyone.

• B.a.B.e. Be Active, Be Emancipated (Budi aktivna, Budi emancipirana): B.a.B.e. is a strategic group located in Zagreb, Croatia, which works for the affirmation and implementation of women's human rights.

• Center for Reproductive Rights: Based in the U.S., the Center for Reproductive Rights is a non-profit legal advocacy organization dedicated to promoting and defending women’s reproductive rights worldwide.
• Center for Health and Gender Equity: Based in the U.S., CHANGE is a non-profit organization that works to advance a reproductive health and rights agenda within US international population and health policies and programs.
• Citizenship, Studies, Information and Action: CEPIA is a non-governmental, nonprofit organization dedicated to developing projects that promote human and citizenship rights especially among groups historically excluded from exercising their full citizenship in Brazil.
• Creating Resources for Empowerment in Action: Based in India, CREA is an organization that aims at enhancing the capacities of a new generation of women leaders using a human rights approach. It works on issues of sexuality, reproductive health, violence against women, gender equity, economic justice and women's rights.

• Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era: Based in Fiji, DAWN is a network of women scholars and activists from the economic South who engage in feminist research and analysis of the global environment and are committed to working for economic justice, gender justice and democracy. DAWN works globally and regionally.

• EngenderHealth: Based in the U.S., EngenderHealth is a non-profit organization that has been working internationally for over 30 years to support and strengthen reproductive health services for women and men worldwide.
• Equality Now: Based in the U.S. with a regional office in Kenya, Equality Now is an international human rights organization dedicated to action for the civil, political, economic and social rights of girls and women.

• Family Violence Prevention Fund: Based in the U.S., FVPF is a non-profit organization that focuses on domestic violence education, prevention and public policy reform.
• Feminist Majority Foundation: Based in the U.S., the Feminist Majority Foundation engages in research and public education efforts aimed at advancing women's empowerment and equality.
• Feminist International Radio Endeavor: FIRE's main mission is "giving voice to the voiceless." Based in Costa Rica, its programs address diverse themes from a gender perspective. These include neo-liberal policies, women's human rights, the environment, racism, disabilities, militarism, sexualities, education, arts and culture. (Spanish and English)

• Global Fund for Women: Based in the U.S., GFW makes grants to seed, support, and strengthen women's rights groups around the world. They envision a just and democratic world, where women and men can participate equally in all aspects of social, political, and economic life.
• Global Rights: Based in the U.S., Global Rights is a human rights advocacy group that partners with local activists to challenge injustice and amplify new voices within the global discourse. With offices in countries around the world, they help local activists create just societies through proven strategies for effecting change. In all of their programs, Global Rights emphasizes promoting women's human rights and combating discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity or sexual orientation.

• Human Rights Internet: Based in Canada, HRI is a world leader in the exchange of information within the worldwide human rights community. A key objective of the organization is to support the work of the global non-governmental community in its struggle to obtain human rights for all.
• Human Rights Watch - Women's Rights Division: The largest U.S.-based human rights organization, Human Rights Watch, is dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world.

• International Center for Research on Women: Based in the U.S., ICRW is dedicated to promoting social and economic development with women's full participation. ICRW generates quality, empirical information and technical assistance on women's productive and reproductive roles, their status in the family, their leadership in society, and their management of environmental resources.
• International Council on Human Rights Policy: Based in Switzerland, ICHRP provides a forum for applied research, reflection and forward thinking on matters of international human rights policy.
• International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission: Based in the U.S., IGLHRC is a non-profit organization that seeks to secure the full enjoyment of the human rights of all people and communities subject to discrimination or abuse on the basis of sexual orientation or expression, gender identity or expression, and/or HIV status.
• International Women's Democracy Center: Based in the U.S., IWDC was established to strengthen women's global leadership through training, education, networking and research in all facets of democracy with a particular focus on increasing the participation of women in policy, politics and decision-making.
• International Women's Health Coalition: Based in the U.S., IWHC is a nonprofit organization that works to generate health and population policies, programs, and funding that promote and protect the rights and health of girls and women worldwide, particularly in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and countries in post-socialist transition.
• International Women's Tribune Centre: Based in the U.S., IWTC is dedicated to achieving women's full participation in shaping a development process that is just, peaceful and sustainable. For the last 25 years, IWTC has played an important role as a major information, education, communication, networking, technical assistance and training resource for women worldwide.
• International Women's Human Rights Clinic: Based at the Georgetown University Law Center in the U.S., the general mission of IWHRC is to promote and advance women's human rights throughout the world.
• International Women's Rights Action Watch, Asia Pacific: Based in Malaysia, IWRAW is an organization that carries out collaborative projects to facilitate the monitoring and implementation of the CEDAW Convention regionally and globally.
• Isis International: Based in the Philippines, Isis is dedicated to women's information and communication needs. Documenting ideas and visions. Creating channels to communicate. Collecting and moving information. Networking and building links. With a focus on those advancing women's rights, leadership and empowerment in Asia and the Pacific.

• Just Associates: A global community of justice activists, scholars and popular educators in more than 30 countries worldwide, JASS works from a feminist perspective to transform norms, institutions, policies and decision-making processes in both public and private spaces of power. Their shared analysis and strategies are shaped by an intersectional perspective on power, integrating race, class, sexuality, location and other factors.

• MADRE: Based in the U.S., MADRE is an international women's human rights organization that works in partnership with women's community-based groups worldwide to address issues of health, economic development and other human rights.

• National Council for Research on Women: Based in the U.S., NCRW is a working alliance of 84 women's research and policy centers, more than 3,000 affiliates and a network of over 200 international centers. NCRW's mission is to enhance the connections among research, policy analysis, advocacy, and innovative programming on behalf of women and girls.

• People's Movement for Human Rights Education: Based in the U.S., PDHRE is an international service organization that works directly and indirectly with its network of affiliates - primarily women's and social justice organizations - to develop and advance pedagogies for human rights education relevant to people's daily lives in the context of their struggles for social and economic justice and democracy.
• Sisterhood is Global Institute: Based in the U.S., SIGI is an international non-government, non-profit organization dedicated to the support and promotion of women's rights at the local, national, regional, and global levels. With members in 70 countries, and a network of more than 1,300 individuals and organizations worldwide, SIGI works toward empowering women and developing leadership through human rights education. 

• United Nations Development Fund for Women: With headquarters in the U.S., UNIFEM promotes women's empowerment and gender equality. It works to ensure the participation of women in all levels of development planning and practice, and acts as a catalyst within the United Nations system, supporting efforts that link the needs and concerns of women to all critical issues on the national, regional and global agendas.  
• Urgent Action Fund for Women's Human Rights: With offices in the U.S. and Kenya, UAF is the only international fund designed to respond on short notice to the protection of women's human rights globally. Urgent Action Fund and Urgent Action Fund-Africa operate Rapid Response Grantmaking programs and collaborative initiatives linking justice, peacebuilding, security and women's human rights.

• WILD for Human Rights: Based in the U.S., the Women's Institute for Leadership Development promotes human rights through the conscious leadership and action of women and girls. With a vision of social and political change, they strive to improve the conditions of women and girls and their communities. WILD provides human rights education, engages in public advocacy, and collaborates on the adoption and implementation of international human rights standards in the United States.
• Women's International Coalition for Economic Justice: Based in the U.S., WICEJ is an organization that works to link gender with macro-economic policy in international inter-governmental policy-making arenas, from a human-rights perspective.
• Women in Law and Development in Africa: Based in Zimbabwe, WiLDAF is a pan African women's rights network dedicated to promoting and strengthening strategies which link law and development to increase women's participation and influence at the community, national and international levels.
• Women of Color Resource Center: WCRC promotes the political, economic, social and cultural well being of women and girls of color in the United States. Informed by a social justice perspective that takes into account the status of women internationally, WCRC is committed to organizing and educating women of color across lines of race, ethnicity, religion, nationality, class, sexual orientation, physical ability and age.
• Women Against Violence Europe: Based in Austria, WAVE is a network of European women's non-governmental organizations working in the field of combating violence against women and children (women's refuges, counseling centres, SOS hotlines/helplines, organizations focusing on prevention and training, etc.).
• WOMANKIND Worldwide: WOMANKIND Worldwide is the only UK development agency that has at its heart support for women's economic, social and political equality.
• Women Living Under Muslim Laws: Based in the U.K., with coordination offices for Africa and Asia & the Middle East, WLUML is a network of women whose lives are shaped, conditioned or governed by laws, both written and unwritten, drawn from interpretations of the Koran tied up with local traditions.
• Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice: Based in the Hague, the Netherlands, Women's Initiatives is an international women’s human rights organization advocating for gender-inclusive justice and working towards an effective and independent International Criminal Court (ICC).
• Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children: Based in the U.S., the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children works to improve the lives and defend the rights of refugee and internally displaced women, children and adolescents.
• Women's Environment and Development Organization: Based in the U.S., WEDO is an international advocacy network actively working to transform society to achieve a healthy and peaceful planet, with social, political, economic and environmental justice for all through the empowerment of women, in all their diversity, and their equal participation with men in decision-making from grassroots to global arenas.
• Women's International League for Peace and Freedom: Based in the U.S., WILPF works to create an environment of political, economic, social and psychological freedom for all members of the human community, so that true peace can be enjoyed by all.
• Women's Learning Partnership: Based in the U.S., WLP is an international, non-governmental organization working to empower women and girls in the Global South to re-imagine and re-structure their roles in their families, communities, and societies. WLP seeks to achieve this goal through leadership training, capacity building, and helping women generate as well as receive information and knowledge. WLP aims to advance communication and cooperation among and between the women of the world in order to protect human rights, facilitate sustainable development, and promote peace.
• Women's Rights Network: Based in the U.S., WRN is an international human rights organization based at Wellesley College that works to address the root causes of intimate partner abuse in the United States through the application of human rights principles, strategies and laws.
• WomenWatch: The United Nations Internet Gateway on the Advancement and Empowerment of Women. WomenWatch is a joint initiative of the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW), the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW).