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 The International Women's Tribune Centre (IWTC) is an
international non-governmental organization established in l976
following the United Nations International Women's Year World
Conference in Mexico City. With a philosophical commitment to
empowering people and building communities, IWTC provides
communication, information, education, and organizing support
services to women's organizations and community groups working to
improve the lives of women, particularly low-income women, in
Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean,
Eastern Europe and Western Asia.
 IWTC's work is grounded on the premise that access to
information and the ability to communicate are basic to the process
of women's empowerment, to women's ability to re-defining
development paradigms, to women's participation in the public policy
arena and to the building of democratic societies. IWTC's work is
focused in five programme areas: (1) human rights, (2) advocacy and
accountability with a focus on the Beijing plus Five meeting, (3)
information access and communication capacity-building; (4)
networking and organizational support; and (5) Women, Ink, a
knowledge-brokering service.
Underlying IWTC's work is an
emphasis on participatory approaches to work and the need to make
explicit the linkages between global policies and the everyday
realities confronting women living in poverty. Through workshops and
training programmes, information materials and services, networking
and enabling linkages, IWTC builds bridges between the international
and the national, between the abstract and the concrete, between
policy and people, and between ideas and actions.
IWTC is
interested in reaching individuals and organizations working in
low-income communities who see themselves as information multipliers
and/or community change agents. Findings from a 1998 external
evaluation confirm that IWTC is in fact reaching this key
constituency. One of the largest of the women's international
networks, IWTC's constituency exceeds 25,000 in 150 countries, 94%
in the Global South.*
 IWTC works collaboratively with regional and
national women's and community development organizations to meet the
following objectives:
To increase women's access to
information and resources and their ability to utilize that
information to advance their rights;
To encourage the
development of approaches and activities that mainstream women's
projects rather than compartmentalize them as purely social
programmes;
To support groups working to increase the
participation of low-income rural and urban women in all aspects of
the development process, particularly in the economic
arena;
To provide a communications link for the sharing of
information, ideas and resources among individuals and groups
working on behalf of women in Latin America and the Caribbean,
Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Western Asia, North America and
Europe;
To link together groups and individuals who are
working on similar research, action and/or advocacy activities;
and
To strengthen the institutional capabilities of women's
groups that are working as advocates of change, programme innovators
and providers of services.
In a strategic planning process begun in 2001, IWTC
re-conceptualized its work into four major programme
areas:
Tackling Poverty, Building Strong Communities: Women
Using Information Communication Technologies for Basic
Needs;
Using Global Policy for Transformative
Action
Human Rights, Human Security, Women in the
Peace-Building Process
Using Information and
Knowledge-Sharing for Empowerment: Access and
Management
Crosscutting throughout all its work will be an
emphasis on the use of the new information communication
technologies (ICTs) for poverty alleviation and empowerment.
Within this same planning process, IWTC re-affirmed the
primacy of its support to individuals and organizations working with
women in low-income communities who, as change agents and
information multipliers, are working to devise innovative strategies
to the persistent problem of poverty. During the 2001-2004 programme
cycle, IWTC will give a priority to the plight of women living in
conflict zones and the situation of rural women who remain among the
most marginalized in the development process.
 IWTC is widely recognized for its pioneering
work and innovative approaches in the information and communications
arena. It was one of the first to develop skill-sharing
opportunities for women in the Global South with the new information
technologies; one of the first to develop systems to support the
growth of networks and networking; and one of the first to
demonstrate the possibilities of translating research findings and
policy mandates into highly visual, participatory materials for use
at the community level. IWTC's materials and graphics have been
reproduced and adapted, translated and shared by women's and
community organizations and development agencies worldwide.
IWTC has played a key role in providing timely, relevant
information that enabled women worldwide to participate in the
global United Nations conferences of the 1990s––as well as the
preceding world conferences on women in 1980 and 1985. In
retrospect, these conferences are seen as contributing significantly
to political skill-building among women which in turn has created a
worldwide women's movement capable of negotiating change at global
and local levels. IWTC's work has been central to this effort.
Beyond serving as an information-provider, IWTC has been
instrumental in coalition-building efforts in the areas of human
rights, science and technology, and media.
As a producer of popular education and participatory media
materials, as an information and knowledge-broker, and as a
consensus-builder between diverse sectors and groups, IWTC has
demonstrated a unique ability to bridge the gap among diverse
sectors and people and to create linkages that "make things happen."
As a lead organization, a partner or co-sponsor, or as a committed
participant, IWTC has lent its organizational resources and
expertise to organizing global campaigns, developing communication
strategies, putting forward advocacy positions, mobilizing support,
and publicizing opportunities for women to participate in
policy-shaping or change-making events.
IWTC has similarly
facilitated the creation of new international networks by providing
initial back-up and support services including staff expertise, use
of office equipment and space, contacts for funding, and the
development of internal systems to support networking activities.
This support has given visibility to important issues at
international level, mobilized global action and, ultimately, shaped
policy.
IWTC provides technical and capacity-building support
to women's organizations in the Global South through one-on-one
consultations, workshops, the provision of "how-to" resource
materials and/or facilitating linkages with other appropriate
institutions.
In its role as an information-broker, IWTC
responds to an average of 4,000 information requests per year,
linking individuals and groups with like-minded organizations and
responding with appropriate information. The Women, Ink. programme,
which brings together more than 300 women and development
publications from some 100 small presses and information-producing
groups, plays a key role in ensuring women's perspectives are
visible and that quality, cutting-edge resources are available
worldwide.
 IWTC's international staff and associates bring expertise
in the following areas to their work: the design of effective
communication strategies; the development of marketing and outreach
strategies for development-related information and educational
resources; re-packaging skills to ensure that information reaches
specific audiences and is responsive to their needs; participatory
training expertise; educational resources development; and in-depth
experience and expertise with information technologies and their
application to various aspects of work in the women and development
community.
Beyond resources and expertise, IWTC has less
tangible but equally important assets: mutually supportive
relationships with colleagues, collaborating organizations and
networks worldwide; a commitment to providing supportive, enabling
and empowering tools and opportunities for colleagues and
collaborators; and a pioneering spirit that encourages innovation,
self-reliance and creativity.
IWTC: iwtc@iwtc.org
Vicki J. Semler, Executive
Director:vickisemler@aol.com
Alice Quinn, Financial
Coordinator:alicequinn@aol.com
Mavic Cabrera-Balleza, Senior
Programme Associate: mavic@iwtc.org
Anne S. Walker,
Special Projects
Coordinator: annewalker@iwtc.org
Yolande Atwater,
Bookkeeper
International Women's Tribune Centre
777
United Nations Plaza
New York, NY 10017, USA
Tel: (1-212)
687-8633
Fax: (1-212) 661-2704
Email: iwtc@iwtc.org
Web:
<http://www.iwtc.org
WOMEN, INK. wink@womenink.org
Alice Quinn,
Manager:alicequinn@aol.com
Mary Wong, Sales Manager:
marywong@womenink.org
Tallulah Knopp, Part-time
Assistant
Women, Ink.
777 United Nations Plaza
New
York, NY 10017, USA
Tel: (1-212) 687-8633 ext. 204 or
212
Fax: (1-212) 661-2704
Email: wink@womenink.org
Web:
http://www.womenink.org |
