MADRE

MADRE is an international women’s human rights organization that works towards a world in which all people enjoy the fullest range of individual and collective human rights; in which resources are shared equitably and sustainably; in which women participate effectively in all aspects of society; and in which people have a meaningful say in decisions that affect their lives.

Mission and vision

MADRE uses human rights to advance social justice. MADRE partners with women in communities worldwide to meet urgent, local needs and create long-term solutions to the problems that women face. MADRE’s vision is enacted with an understanding of the inter-relationships between the various issues we address and by a commitment to working in partnership with women at the local, regional, and international levels who share common goals.

History

In 1983 a group of women activists, poets, teachers, artists and health professionals traveled to Nicaragua to witness the impact of the US sponsored contra war. The horrors of what they saw compelled them to push for action to help the women of Nicaragua. They returned to the US with a mandate from the women of Nicaragua: to bring the stories of Nicaraguan women and children to the attention of the US public and mobilize people to demand a change in US government policy.

MADRE’s Founding Director, Kathy Engel, and the women she brought together had a vision of a women-led, women-run international human rights organization, dedicated to informing people in the US about the effects of US policies on communities around the world. MADRE resolved to build real alternatives to war and violence by supporting the priorities of sister organizations and linking them to the needs of women and families in the US through a people-to-people exchange of direct relief and understanding. 

Programme areas

Programme Areas are:

• Peace Building
• Women’s Health & Violence against women
• Economic & Environmental Justice

MADRE has not opened branches in the countries where they work. They support existing women’s organizations. By working in partnership with MADRE, sister organisations are able to build programs based on their own initiatives and perspectives while benefiting from the resources, training and technical support that a leading international women’s human rights organization can provide.

Below is a list of some projects that MADRE and its sister organisations are currently working on:

• Colombia : Building a Culture of Peace
• Guatemala : Farming for the Future
• Haiti : Support for Rape Survivors
• Iraq An Underground Railroad for Iraqi Women
• Kenya : Banishing Violence Against Women
• Kenya: Climate Change | Social Change
• Mexico : Building an Indigenous Women’s Movement
• Nicaragua : Harvesting Hope
• Nicaragua: Healthy Women, Healthy Families
• Gender Equality in the Occupied Palestinian Territories: The SafeBirth Center
• Panama : Defending People and Planet
• Peru : Indigenous Youth Arts
• Sudan : Women Farmers Unite

References

• http://www.madre.org