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 IFUW lamp

IFUW Partners

Non-governmental Partners (NGOs)

  • Business and Professional Women International (BPWI) - www.bpwintl.com - a worldwide network of business and professional women working to help women worldwide achieve economic independence and to create a powerful lobby for promoting women's issues.
  • Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CONGO) - www.ngocongo.org - joins together non-governmental organizations from around the world. It facilitates the participation of NGOs in UN debates and decisions. CONGO is most active in the major UN centres of New York, Geneva, and Vienna, but extends its work to all regions of the world.
  • International Council of Women (ICW) - www.icw-cif.org - works to promote equal rights and responsibilities for both men and women in all spheres by removing all forms of discrimination based on birth, race, sex, language or religion; to promote recognition and respect for Human Rights; to support all efforts to achieve peace through negotiation, arbitration and conciliation and to encourage the integration of women in development and in decision-making bodies.
  • NGO Committee on UNICEF, Working Group on Girls (WGGs) - www.girlsrights.org - is a group of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), associated with UNICEF and the NGO Committee on the Status of Women, based in New York and Geneva. WGGs works for the rights and future of girls, with a special focus on implementation of the specific provisions for girls in the Beijing Platform for Action.
  • Project Five-O - www.project-five-o.org - is a joint initiative of IFUW and four other international women's organizations - Business and Professional Women International. International Council of Women, Soroptimist International and Zonta International. The five organizations cooperate in joint advocacy efforts and community development projects for women and girls in developing countries and countries in transition.
  • Soroptimist International - www.soroptimistinternational.org - a worldwide organization for women in management and professions working through service projects to advance human rights and the status of women.
  • Virginia Gildersleeve International Fund -www.vgif.org - VGIF is charitable international fund which supports projects worldwide, focusing on women's educational activities, leadership training, community development and the advancement of understanding and cooperation among women.
  • Zonta International - www.zonta.org - is a worldwide organization of executives in business and the professions working together to advance the status of women.

United Nations and its Specialized Agencies

  • United Nations - www.un.org- the United Nations was established on 24 October 1945 by 51 countries committed to preserving peace through international cooperation and collective security. Today, nearly every nation in the world belongs to the UN. According to the Charter, the UN has four purposes: to maintain international peace and security; to develop friendly relations among nations; to cooperate in solving international problems and in promoting respect for human rights; and to be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations. The United Nations is not a world government and it does not make laws. It does, however, provide the means to help resolve international conflicts and formulate policies on matters affecting all of us. At the UN, all the Member States - large and small, rich and poor, with differing political views and social systems - have a voice and a vote in this process.
  • UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) - www.unifem.org - provides financial and technical assistance to innovative programmes and strategies that promote women's human rights, political participation and economic security.
  • United Nations Development Programme - www.undp.org - is a global network in 166 countries designed to help the UN system and its partners to raise awareness and track progress, while it connect countries to the knowledge and resources needed to achieve Millennium Development Goals.
  • United Nations Environment Programme -www.unep.org - is the voice for the environment within the United Nations system. UNEP acts as a catalyst, advocate, educator and facilitator to promote the wise use and sustainable development of the global environment. To accomplish this, UNEP works with a wide range of partners, including United Nations entities, international organizations, national governments, non-governmental organizations, the private sector and civil society.
  • UN Division for the Advancement of Women - www.un.org/womenwatch/daw - Grounded in the vision of equality of the United Nations Charter, the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW) advocates the improvement of the status of women of the world and the achievement of their equality with men. Aiming to ensure the participation of women as equal partners with men in all aspects of human endeavour, the Division promotes women as equal participants and beneficiaries of sustainable development, peace and security, governance and human rights. As part of its mandate, it strives to stimulate the mainstreaming of gender perspectives both within and outside the United Nations system.
  • UN Girls Education Initiative (UNGEI) - www.unesco.org/education/efa/know_sharing/flagship_initiatives/girls.shtml - is a world-wide initiative designed to contribute to the elimination of gender discrimination and gender disparity in education systems through action at global, national, district and community levels. UNESCO is the lead agency.
  • UN International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW) - (www.un-instraw.org) - works towards gender equality and the empowerment of women through its Gender Awareness Information and Networking System (GAINS), an internet-based research and training environment driven by a worldwide network.
  • WomenWatch/UN Working for Women - www.un.org/womenwatch/un - is a gateway to information and resources on the promotion of gender equality throughout the United Nations system. It was created in March 1997 to provide internet space for global gender equality issues and to support implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action.
  • Centre for Human Rights - www.unhcr.ch - The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was established on December 14, 1950 by the United Nations General Assembly. The agency is mandated to lead and co-ordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees.
  • Women's Rights are Human Rights - www.unhchr.ch/women - a special website developed by the United Nations High commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) that provides links to international instruments on the rights of women (treaties and monitoring bodies), information on women's rights on the agendas of UN bodies, documents on gender equality and women's human rights, and issues in focus, such as violence against women, racial discrimination, trafficking in persons, reproductive rights, traditional practices and HIV/AIDS.
  • International Labour Organization - www.ilo.org - is the UN specialized agency which seeks the promotion of social justice and internationally recognized human and labour rights. The ILO formulates international labour standards in the form of Conventions and Recommendations setting minimum standards of basic labour rights: freedom of association, the right to organize, collective bargaining, abolition of forced labour, equality of opportunity and treatment, and other standards regulating conditions across the entire spectrum of work related issues.
  • United Nations Children's Fund - www.unicef.org- advocates for the protection of children's rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential.
  • United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) - www.unesco.org - contributes to peace and security in the world by promoting collaboration among nations through education, science, culture and communication.
  • United Nations Human Settlements Programme - UN-Habitat - www.unhabitat.org, see also UN-Habitat in Action - is the United Nations agency for human settlements, mandated to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all.
  • UN University - www.unu.edu - is an international community of scholars, engaged in research, post-graduate training and dissemination of knowledge in furtherance of the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations. It functions under the joint sponsorship of the United Nations and UNESCO, with a network of research and post-graduate training centres and programmes located in the developed and developing countries.
  • World Health Organization - www.who.int - is the United Nations specialized agency for health, which seeks the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health. Health is defined in WHO's Constitution as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.