The New Woman Foundation ( NWF) is an Egyptian feminist non- governmental organization, was established in 1984 as an informal group and then worked as a civil company and was registered in accordance with the Non-Governmental Organizations and Institutions Law in 2004.

NWF envisions a world free from all sorts of discrimination against human beings, women in general and the most marginalized categories in particular with specific focus on their economic and social rights.

NWF believes in women’s unconditional right to freedom equality and  social justice and consider women’s social m, political ,economic , citizenship and reproductive rights as an integral part of human rights .in this context ,NWF  believes  that the struggle for woman cannot be separated from the struggle   of nations and people for freedom and liberation from oppression.

Vision:

Societies in which Egyptian and Arab women enjoy dignity, justice, equality and freedom; and where their human rights are respected, and where all forms of discrimination and violence are eliminated.

Message:

The New Women Foundation is a feminist advocacy platform that does not compromise women’s rights, and its message is:

1. Building a strong women / feminist movement that supports women of all groups through building alliances, coordination and solidarity
with feminist organizations, and creating young feminist cadres.
2. Contributing to the production of feminist knowledge to crystallize common priorities for the demands of women and to confront
discourses and structures that violate women’s rights.
3. Reviewing and developing the prevailing concepts in order to guarantee the inclusion of women’s experiences and rights and changing
the prevailing societal cultures.
4. Contributing to changing legislation and policies that affect women’s rights.
5. Highlighting women’s issues locally, regionally and internationally, based on the legal references of international conventions.

 

Therefore the three main identified objectives of change include:
  1. Contribute in the development of legal structures laws and policies that can ensure gender equality.
  2. Engagement of varied large and effective groups of women in civil society to widen the scope of their participation in the public space and,
  3. The development of youth leadership able to defend and support women’s rights from a feminist perspective.

It began is activities  in 1984 as informal study group, initially formed by a number of women who were activities on issue of democracy and social Justice.

The organization has since evolved to embrace numerous activities as well as different generations. It has also taken on different legal forms and was recently registered with the ministry of social affairs in 2004 as a foundation in accordance with law 84/2002.

NWF conducts action-oriented studies and carries out consultations with several sectors of women in order to identify the needs requiring intervention; as a result of this effort, appropriate trainings are provided to specific categories of women, mainly women workers, on women’s rights, capacity building, skills of negotiation and campaigning; advocacy is conducted through campaigns including the publication of statements and articles, providing interviews to various media, developing demands and draft amendments to laws that are submitted to parliamentarians whenever this is possible.

Other sectors are also targeted by NWF activities, including men, feminist organizations and grassroots NGOs, women candidates to local councils, media workers, and parliamentarians.

NWF activities are distributed over four main programs:
  • Women, Labor and Economic rights.
  • Violence against women.
  • International mechanisms
  • Participation of women in the public life.
  • Women and feminism.

Organizational structure and decision-making

The highest governance structure is the General Assembly composed of all 25 members and workers; it is responsible of setting the general trends and broad lines of the organization, approving the decisions taken by the Board of Trustees, proposing names for new members of the Board, and providing assistance when needed.  The Board of Trustees is composed of a chairperson, a treasurer, a general secretary and two members; in addition, a representative elected by the workers on a rotation basis is invited to participate in the Board’s meetings as well as the executive director of the organization.  The Board translates the general guidelines into concrete ideas, appointing staff as well as the external auditor, and representing NWF with national authorities and funding agencies.  The executive director is responsible of everyday decision-making and of ensuring coordination and networking inside the organization.  She reports to the Board of Trustees and prepares an annual report to the General Assembly.  The programs coordinators are responsible of developing a vision of their respective programs with the help of projects coordinators, identifying the needs of each program, and following up the activities of the various projects.