The Women’s Federation for World Peace (WFWP) is an NGO, founded in 1992 upon the motto, “Humankind is a Family living in one Home, the Earth.” Since 1994 it has dispatched volunteers worldwide, to implement development assistance projects aimed at “freedom from poverty”, based on local needs.
In 2003, the WFWP undertaking of dispatching Japanese volunteers overseas counted its tenth year. The projects in the respective countries have become established, with many being operated by the active participation on the part of local members. Marking a decade of service, WFWP intends to further its work to enhance these projects in quality, from the perspective of women and mothers.
Women form the majority of the 13 billion people suffering from absolute poverty in the world. In order to resolve the “feminization of poverty” it is necessary to empower women through education. This is because if women acquire strength, the family stabilizes, which leads to increased opportunities for children to become educated.
Among the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations, the tasks to: Achieve universal primary education, Reduce child mortality, Improve maternal health, Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, are all issues deeply related to women. WFWP engages in these tasks by providing educational assistance, instruction in nutrition and sanitation, AIDS preventative education and medical service aid. It is the local mothers who participate wholeheartedly in these activities. We feel their fervent desire: “I want to raise my children, earning my own income, in a healthy environment with the opportunity for education.”
Children who have been given the chance to study and women who work, using the skills they have acquired convey much hope for the future. In striving to realize the Millennium Development Goals, WFWP aims to realize a world in which everyone can live with peace of mind, with the United Nations, governments and NGOs working together.
This volume is a summary of part of the activities in which volunteers and WFWP members of the respective countries cooperated together, from 2003 to 2004. It is our hope that it will provide a better understanding of our engagement in the eradication of poverty.
