International Women’s Democracy Center
The International Women’s Democracy Center (IWDC) was established in 1995 by Barbara Ferris. It is a non-governmental organisation which provides training to women around the world to strengthen their leadership skills and provide them with the resources to participate in politics. By ensuring that women worldwide have the necessary tools and skills to participate in all levels of governance, IWDC’s commitment to work in partnership with local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) around the world responds to the increasing need of women leaders to acquire the technical skills and leadership tools so critical to their leadership roles in the new millennium.
Mission
The International Women’s Democracy Center 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 within their own governments.
Activities and Programmes
Through workshops facilitated in partnership with an established host country organization and conducted in the local language, women are taught how to run for elected office, how to advocate for issues, and campaign management combined with computer training, e-mail use and Internet access. An experienced group of trainers model and facilitate the workshop according to the existing system of government. IWDC facilitates a seminar for trainers in order to build technical capabilities in country.
Current programmes include:
- Campaign Management and Local Leader Workshops; workshops are held throughout the world to train woman how to run for elected office. Skills taught include how to make the decision to stand for office, manage a campaign, use technology, and advocate for issues.
- The Pipeline Project: designed to train 18-35 year-old women across the Gender Equality in the United States of America of America how to get engaged in the leadership roles in both the public and private sectors in their own communities.
- Community Advocate Mentor Program: a five-year training program designed to strengthen the public policy, lobbying and advocacy skills of 100 women leaders from Israel and Palestine Each year, 20 women from both the public and private sectors come to Washington, DC, for an intensive two-week program where they are partnered with Members of Congress and lobbyists to gain an up-front view of how public policy is created.
- Special Consultative Status to the UN: allows IWDC to participate on delegations to the Economic and Social Committees (ECOSOC) of the UN.
- UN Youth Delegate Program: takes high school seniors on the IWDC Official Delegation to United Nations meetings and conferences at UN Headquarters in New York.
- Community Forums Project: created as a direct response to the frighteningly large increase of HIV/AIDS cases in Botswana – particularly among women – to combat stigma and promote HIV/AIDS education and prevention.
- BEADS for Education: a programme to provide school scholarships for African girls, promote business development for African women and support conservation through education.