IWDA is an Australian not-for-profit organisation that supports and advances women and their communities in developing countries. Our practical and rights-based projects directly address poverty and inequality.

IWDA works with and through local partners on issues they believe are a priority, helping to ensure local ownership and participation in decision-making.

Projects supported by IWDA are devised and managed by women who live and work in the communities themselves, helping ensure ongoing relevance and effectiveness. When women benefit, the whole community benefits.

Why support women?

Today over 1.2 billion people live on less than one dollar a day. A staggering 70% of the world’s poor are women. We live in a world where women do around two-thirds of the world’s work and produce half of the world’s food; yet earn less than 10% of the world’s income and own only 1% of the world’s property. On average, women earn half of what men earn. Around the world at least one in three women has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime.

We believe that women are agents of change and development can only be effective and sustainable if women are active participants in all aspects of economic, social and political life.

When women benefit from development and have a say, they share the benefits with their families and invest in their communities. Women use their earnings for the health and education of their children and themselves. Empowering women and girls is central to achieving gender justice.

IWDA works in the Asia-Pacific region, in direct partnership with women who work and live in the communities themselves. We currently work in eleven countries on 31 projects with 25 partners and 3 coalitions of partners.

IWDA actively works towards six program goals designed to focus our work in catalysing transformational change for women and girls. These are:

1. Livlihood and economic empowerment
2. Safety and security
3. Social, physical and mental health
4. Education
5. Environmental sustainability
6. Civil and political participation