Women's Learning Partnership for Rights, Development, and Peace

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Women's Learning Partnership for Rights, Development, and Peace (WLP) is an international non-profit, non-governmental organization that is dedicated to women's leadership and empowerment. In cooperation with 18 autonomous partner organizations in the Global South, particularly in Muslim-majority societies, WLP works to empower women to transform their families, communities, and societies. The organization's president is Mahnaz Afkhami.

WLP's primary objective is to increase the number of women taking on leadership and decision-making roles at family, community, and national levels, and to improve the effectiveness of feminist social movements in Muslim-majority societies and globally by strengthening the capacity of our partner organizations.

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[edit] Background

Since its founding WLP has established a partnership model that allows for a geometric increase in the human and material resources available to partner organizations, maximum use of shared learning across regions, and increased impact of collective networking and solidarity capabilities. The Partnership is based on a relationship of intense and continuous communication and ongoing cooperation in the conception, development, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of joint programs.

[edit] Mission

WLP's mission is to advance communication and cooperation among and between the women of the world in order to protect human rights, facilitate sustainable development, and promote peace. WLP links those with access to resources, knowledge, and technologies to those without, and augments the voices and visions of the world's resource-poor majority. WLP believes that dialogue across boundaries of culture, class, gender, generation, and nation is essential for achieving socially equitable and environmentally sound development. To secure a healthy, safe, and democratic environment for all, WLP works to advance gender equity, involve men and boys in promoting gender parity, and facilitate the exchange of grassroots strategies within and across different cultures. By instituting a viable knowledge and learning framework, WLP's programs provide women and girls of the Global South with the technical knowledge and practical skills needed to participate in the global dialogue about rights, development, and peace.

[edit] Management and Administration

WLP’s Board of Directors is made up of a diverse group of leading academics and NGO directors:

  • Hafsat Abiola, Founder and Executive Director, Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (Nigeria)
  • Mahnaz Afkhami, Founder and President, Women’s Learning Partnership (Iran/U.S.)
  • Leila Ahmed, Professor of Women’s Studies in Religion, Harvard Divinity School (Egypt/U.S.)
  • Zainah Anwar, Executive Director, Sisters In Islam (Malaysia)
  • Marian Wright Edelman, Founder and President, Children’s Defense Fund (U.S.)
  • Afaf Mahfouz, former President, Conference of Non-governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (Egypt)
  • Jacqueline Pitanguy, Founder and President, Cidadania, Estudo, Pesquisa, Informaçao, e Açao (Brazil)
  • Zenebeworke Tadesse, Founding Member, Association of African Women for Research and Development (Ethiopia)

WLP has an International Advisory Council that includes heads of United Nations agencies, leaders of international organizations, and scholars and activists representing diverse professional, cultural, and religious perspectives. The international experts help WLP analyze the social, cultural, political, and gender implications of its programs and fine-tune them accordingly.

[edit] Funding

WLP's annual operating budget is $1.5 million USD. The organization has received funding from the Ford Foundation, Oxfam Novib, Canadian International Development Agency, Global Fund for Women, Open Society Institute, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and the Shaler Adams Foundation.

[edit] Publications

  • Documentaries and Multimedia Publications:
    • Leading to Choices: A Multimedia Curriculum for Leadership Learning
    • Documentary: Against All Odds: Women Partnering for Change in a Time of Crisis
    • Documentary: Cultural Boundaries & Cyber Spaces: Women's Voices on Empowerment, Leadership and Technology
    • CD: Leading to Change: Eliminating Violence Against Women in Muslim Societies
    • CD: Clash or Consensus: Gender and Human Security in a Globalized World
    • CD: In the Aftermath of Terror: Women Leaders Discuss Peace, Justice & Conflict Resolution In a Globalized World
    • Radio: Women e-merging: Stories of Women Using Communication Technologies in Africa and the Middle East

[edit] See also

[edit] External links