The mission of the OSI International Women’s Program is to promote and protect the rights of women and girls in countries where governance structures, the rule of law, public health, and economic reform need urgent international support, and where women and girls face extreme economic, psychological, and physical harm due to armed conflict.

The program further aims to promote the advancement of women’s rights and gender equality in law and practice, and the empowerment of women to ensure popular participation in the democratic process.

The International Women’s Program also serves as a resource and catalyst on women’s human rights for the Open Society Institute/Soros foundations network.

History

From 1997–2006, the International Women’s Program (formerly the Network Women's Program) worked with national partners throughout Central, Eastern, and South Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union to secure women’s rights through a number of initiatives and to help build a regional women’s movement. Through partnerships with Soros foundations and other network programs, the Women’s Program has invested more than $30 million, making OSI the single-largest financial supporter of women’s rights in the region.

In 2007, the International Women's Program worked as a global grantmaking program in cooperation with national and regional Soros foundations, and regional directors’ offices, by identifying and supporting women’s rights organizations in the Middle East/North Africa, Africa, Latin America, and Asia, with a focus on engendering transitional justice, multiple discrimination against women, sustaining regional networks, and resource mobilization.

Read more about the International Women's Program 2007 activities.