Women For Women International works in countries which have been affected by conflict, such as Bosnia Herzegovina, Afghanistan, and Sudan.

They first assist women in securing the basics like food and shelter through direct sponsorship with individuals abroad; they then do life skills training (on rights awareness, leadership education and vocational and technical skills training) and then more specific job training if necessary. One interesting component is the latter is microcredit – where they make small loans to women to start their own businesses. In some cases, products made by women in this program are available online – if you want to be cool like me, get a pair of slippers from Bosnia – though I must confess mine are orange and purple and I bought them on the street.

How can volunteers help?
Sponsorship is one way to make a difference, and may give you an opportunity to correspond with the woman benefiting from your assistance, but you can also volunteer or do an internship in the Washington DC office – there appears to be quite a developed program in place.

If you’d like to volunteer abroad, you need to already be present in the country you’re interested in; once there you should request contact details from Women for Women International.

There are lots of other interesting ways to contribute: one that stuck out to me was hosting an event – you can organize a potluck and suggest guests donate the price of a meal, or you can organize a book club meeting around The Other Side of War - by Zainab Salbi - to “share the voices of women survivors of war.”