Breakthrough Summit

Breakthrough Commitments: New Initiatives to Support Women and Girls

Scores of organizations across the globe have responded to the Women, Faith, and Development Alliance’s call to action to make concrete commitments to new programs that will support women and girls around the globe.

Find out how you can make a commitment or help us spread the word about supporting women and girls. 

Breakthrough Commitments

Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA International)

ADRA International commits $1.5 million in funding and resources for initiatives that directly address existing gaps in women's literacy and girls' access to education. Funds generated through awareness raising campaigns will be used to prioritize gender in a way that im­pacts the entire international development program. To do so, ADRA International will identify and fund unmet needs for women's literacy and girls' access to education in locations where they have existing or plan new programs. www.adra.org

American Islamic Congress

The American Islamic Congress commits to reduce global poverty by investing in young women across the Middle East. It will unite women's activists from the region and facilitate effective networking between women's groups for the first time in this area. The network will represent the entire Middle East and draw upon testimony from women in Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Morocco. Ultimate­ly, a best practices guide for empowering Middle Eastern women will also be developed. www.aicongress.org

American Society of Muslim Advancement (ASMA)

American Society of Muslim Advancement is launching the first inter­national Muslim Women's Fund for Social Justice to strengthen Mus­lim women's leadership and address religious and cultural traditions that discriminate against women. Led by and for Muslim women, the Fund will partner with faith and feminism groups and philanthropists to achieve economic independence for Muslim women's initiatives and promote women as leaders in philanthropic projects and spon­sors of social change. www.asmasociety.org

Amnesty International USA (AIUSA)

AIUSA pledges approximately $280,000 to launch a nation-wide study on maternal mortality in the United States, which focuses on the disproportionate risk faced by minority, Indigenous, refugee and migrant women living in poverty. After the report is launched, AIUSA will commit additional funds to campaign and mobilize grassroots activists around this issue. This report has the potential to impact the 4.4 million women that give birth in the U.S. per year, reducing the 18,000 complications and 600 deaths that occur per year. www.amnestyusa.org

Anglican Women's Empowerment (AWE)

AWE will launch a Gender Financing & Budget Toolkit that will edu­cate the public about, and increase opportunities for the financing of women's projects. At the grassroots level, it will give women a voice in resource allocation and engage Anglican women to serve as liaisons between women in need and financing institutions. A global network of Anglican women will disseminate the toolkit through churches, dioceses, and local communities. The toolkit is estimated to impact 75 million Anglicans from 165 countries, more than half of whom are women and girls. episcopalchurch.org

BeadforLife

Income Opportunities for Ugandan Women

BeadforLife will expand income generating activities that can help Ugandan women lift themselves out of poverty. These initiatives in­clude community development programs in business, entrepreneur­ial training, housing, and savings. This is predicted to impact 120 women in Uganda, as well as at least 1,000 family and community members that these women directly or indirectly support.

Market Development Initiative

BeadforLife will also pilot a new initiative aimed at increasing oppor­tunities for impoverished Ugandans. Using BeadforLife's successful model of connecting Ugandan suppliers to North American buyers, the organization will expand the project's success by removing itself as the "middle man." This project has the potential to directly affect up to 900 producers. www.beadforlife.org

Bread for the World

Bread for the World will use its 2009 Annual Hunger Report on the Millennium Development Goals to provide deeper analysis of the central role of women in development, and how U.S. development assistance can address the specific needs and situations facing wom­en in developing countries. One section of the report will focus on the particular contribution women make to economic growth and poverty reduction, and the interventions needed to ensure increases in economic growth positively affect women. www.bread.org

Bonobo Conservation Institute (BCI)

BCI commits to support women living in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Cuvette Centrale (Central Basin), by increasing their op­portunities and access to education, health services, trade and en­terprise, and employment. Meanwhile, they will sustain the rainforest ecosystems by partnering with Congolese communities and local cooperatives and establishing a network of community-based nature reserves supported by sustainable development. www.bonobo.org

CARE

CARE will mobilize $150 million over the next seven years to launch a signature initiative to combat maternal mortality in 10 countries. The project will reach an estimated 30 million women globally. While challenging gender norms and power structures that deny women the right to a safe and healthy pregnancy, CARE will also focus on health systems strengthening and advocacy for women's equal ac­cess to health resources. www.care.org

Catholic Relief Services (CRS)

Building Expertise on Gender-Based Violence

CRS commits to fund a new staff position to strengthen the agency's capacity to understand, respond to and prevent gender-based vio­lence, with particular focus on the Democratic Republic of the Con­go. As part of the commitment, CRS will also develop educational resources for its Catholic constituency in the U.S. on the issues of sexual and gender-based violence. The estimated value of this com­mitment is over $1.2 million.

Pushing for PEPFAR Reauthorization

CRS will also advocate for the reauthorization of The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in order to continue its basic services for women in the areas of education, healthcare, ag­riculture, rural development, micro-enterprise and emergency assis­tance. www.crs.org

Centre for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA)

CEDPA commits to take its work to the next level by equipping and empowering women from around the world with the knowledge and skills needed to strengthen and lead the global response to AIDS re­gionally, nationally, and globally. While building the leadership, ad­vocacy, and technical expertise of women working on the frontlines against AIDS, CEDPA will strengthen the capacity of their organiza­tions to push for AIDS policies, programs, and resources that meet women's real needs, thus raising women's voices in the global policy debates that will impact their lives. www.cedpa.org

Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE)

CHANGE commits to alleviating global poverty by ensuring that U.S. global policies, funding, and programs support comprehensive sex­ual and reproductive health. In the next year, CHANGE will develop an evidence-based, comprehensive framework for creating, funding and assessing family planning and HIV prevention programs; gain ac­ceptance for use of a comprehensive framework within U.S. foreign assistance; and eliminate barriers to comprehensive approaches to family planning and HIV prevention within U.S. policy. www.genderhealth.org

Church Women United (CWU)

CWU has launched a national action project, called Building a World Fit for Children, which is mobilizing women to advocate for the Unit­ed States Senate's ratification of the UN's Convention on the Rights of the Child through, a national petition drive, an intergenerational art project, and ongoing participation in the Campaign for Conven­tion on the Rights of the Child. www.churchwomen.org

Church World Service (CWS)

CWS commits to break through the barriers that keep women from quality and basic needs by building on its successful education and advocacy model that demonstrates pragmatic inspiration for mobiliz­ing political will, community empowerment and citizen engagement. They will do this through the "Enough for All" campaign which re­news Church World Services' commitment to "Water for All" and women's empowerment campaigns; and establishes the important link climate change has to these issues. www.churchworldservice.org

Episcopal Diocese of Washington (EDOW)

EDOW (41,500 members in 90 parishes in the District of Columbia and four Maryland counties) will facilitate the formation of Beijing Circles, which is a parish-based tool to discuss, promote, and take action on gender equality. Beijing Circles reflects the 1995 Platform of Action created at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Bei­jing. Implementation will occur through the EDOW/MDG commit­tee, using an existing and diverse multi-media communications strat­egies within the Diocese. EDOW aims to engage 1,000 participants in the next year. www.edow.org

Equality Now

Equality Now's strategy to end Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) involves support of and collaboration with grassroots groups and the engagement in strong advocacy both nationally and internationally. They commit to: advocating for greater and more direct funding to these groups; strengthening the capacities of the grassroots movement by sharing skills and strategies, including litigation, with other women's rights groups at all levels; raising awareness about FGM as violence and discrimination against women and girls around the world through the media and other information dissemination through networks; to galvanizing the public into taking action; engaging in dialogue with governments, the United Nations and other international agencies and undertaking direct advocacy on behalf of, in consultation with, and as a channel for women and grassroots women's organizations. www.equalitynow.org

FAIR Fund

Through FAIR Fund's JewelGirls economic empowerment and art therapy program, young women who have been victimized by sexual assault, violence, and exploitation are given the opportunity to make and sell their own high-end jewelry. The proceeds are used to help each woman gain access to documentation, safe housing, medical care, full-time employment, and critical education. FAIR Fund com­mits $40,000 to expanding the JewelGirls program to reach over 100 young women in 2008-2009. www.fairfund.org

Family Care International (FCI)

Recognizing the significant role that faith-based organizations play in providing health care in poor communities worldwide, Family Care International is reaching out to faith communities while working to increase investments in maternal health as a human rights and de­velopment issue. They pledge to devote five percent of the Women Deliver outreach budget to connecting with faith-based organiza­tions and will involve three faith leaders in the pre-planning process and implementation for the 2nd Women Deliver conference. www.familycareintl.org

Family Care International (FCI) (Cluster Commitment)

In the spirit of Millennium Development Goal 5, Family Care Interna­tional and partner organizations are taking steps to provide univer­sal access to the "three pillars of maternal health": comprehensive reproductive health care; skilled care during and after pregnancy; and emergency care if life-threatening complications develop. It is shown that simply observing these steps could avert one-third of all maternal deaths. The commitment will be demonstrated through published and online materials, training and orientation manuals for new and field staff, and in activities of programs and projects world­wide. www.familycareintl.org

Firstworks International (FWI)

FWI commits to contributing to the struggle against negative ide­ological gender relations and institutionalized norms and biases that support women's unequal treatment in the private and public spheres, and undermine economic and political gains and leading to poverty and domestic violence. FWI will focus on youth educa­tion through educational, religious, and youth organizations. They will target both women and with men in their programs.

FLOW

FLOW commits to initiating Accelerating Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) marketing and education campaign to illuminate the critical role women entrpreneurs play in reducing poverty, advancing pros­perity, and promoting peace. Produced in collaboration with an al­liance of diverse partners, the AWE campaign will reach millions of people through multiple communications channels, advocating for legal reforms to increase rights and opportunities for women entre­preneurs, and attracting substantial resources to support them. www.flowidealism.org

Gender Action

Gender Action pledges to reduce global poverty by investing in women and girls through an innovative Gender Capacity-Building Project for International Finance-Watchers. With the goal of promot­ing gender equality and human rights in International Financial In­stitution (IFI) investments, Gender Action will work with six global IFI-watcher groups to help them engender their IFI environment and transparency monitoring projects, pressure IFIs to end loan require­ments that negatively impact women and girls, and ensure IFI invest­ments promote women's rights. www.genderaction.org

The Global Action Network/Sophia Alliance: An NGO-Interfaith-Business-UN Joint Initiative

The GANS Alliance commits to the research and development of Impact Assessment Tools to consist of connecting, communicating, and convening best rractices from the development field; inspiring, developing and supporting collaborative multi-channel marketing campaigns to increase awareness and participation related to women's issues, financial and life-planning education, Women’s Social Entrepreneurship, economic empowerment, raising funds for education, training, micro-credit and SME’s for women through partnerships and social enterprise. This is a three year commitment with a projected investment of $2.6M, a projected outreach of 30 million women and direct impact on 6 million women.

Heifer International

Heifer International commits to increasing the visibility of small-scale women farmers by creating opportunities and space for policy dia­logue at international, national, and local levels. It will also strengthen local and global networks and build knowledge around agriculture, women farmers and sustainable livelihood issues that are critical to bring about positive changes for women farmers. This initiative is ex­pected to impact millions of women and men farmers in 53 countries and 28 U.S. States. www.heifer.org

Initiative for Inclusive Security

The Initiative for Inclusive Security is committed to the publication of groundbreaking research that demonstrates how women's leader­ship in a post-conflict country can be pivotal to the development and stabilization of society. The publications will document the Rwandan experience of women's leadership and provide policymakers, do­nors, and program planners with strategies for supporting women's leadership and promoting democracy. They will be distributed to women leaders in Rwanda who can use the publications as evidence of their contributions to governance and as tools to bolster re-elec­tion campaigns. www.huntalternatives.org

InterAction

InterAction plans to integrate gender equality into their expanded advocacy for poverty-focused U.S. government overseas assistance. InterAction also will raise gender equality and development in key global forums such as the G8 and Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development-Development Assistance Committee (OECD DAC) Aid Effectiveness meetings. With 165 organizational members, InterAction is leading the charge for a transformation in U.S. overseas assistance, making poverty reduction the top priority and investments in women and girls its heart. InterAction is hiring new staff and expanding member working groups for ensuring that U.S. overseas assistance empowers women and girls. www.interaction.org

International Center for Research on Women (ICRW)

ICRW commits to increasing the priority and attention to women, girls, and gender issues in the global response to HIV/AIDS. ICRW will undertake advocacy activities aimed at institutionalizing gender within the major donor institutions responding to HIV/AIDS, includ­ing influencing U.S. legislation, engaging with U.S. and international donor agencies to shape their internal policies and programs, and monitoring their progress. It will also work to strengthen capacity and leadership by engaging 170 women over a three-year period in Asia, Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa, who will engage much larger communities of women and girls in their respective countries. www.theirc.org

International Medical Corps

International Medical Corps, working in collaboration with the pan-African NGO Africa Humanitarian Action, is launching a five-year program to address gender-based violence (GBV) in conflict areas in Africa. Focusing on the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, and Sudan, this project aims to improve quality and coverage of medi­cal and psychosocial treatment and support services provided to survivors, reduce GBV stigma and vulnerability in communities, and strengthen capacity for in-country stakeholders to address GBV. www.imcworldwide.org

International Rescue Committee (IRC)

The IRC commits to further strengthening their understanding of gender issues by retaining a consultant to produce and disseminate guidelines for field programs as well as assist in developing effective strategies. Additionally, the IRC will place a gender-based violence specialist in the Middle East, as well as conduct an assessment of gender-based violence among Iraqi refugees in Jordan and Syria. Over the next 5 years the organization pledges to impact over one million women and girls through $500 million in multi-sectoral pro­gram services. www.theirc.org

Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)

UNAIDS will intensify its work with member states of the United Na­tions to honor their 2006 commitment at the UN General Assembly High Level Meeting to eliminate gender inequalities, gender-based abuse and violence and to increase the capacity of women and ado­lescent girls to protect themselves from the risk of HIV infection, prin­cipally through the provision of health care and services, including, sexual and reproductive health, and the provision of full access to comprehensive information and education. www.unaids.org

MADRE

MADRE proposes an innovative water and sanitation project in a small, rural community in Kenya, directly benefiting hundreds of women who are responsible for collecting household water and fuel. The organization will not only construct a well, but also build a pota­ble water system equipped with collective containers and activated by solar energy. The goal is to ensure basic individual and collective human rights, and help women allocate their time more efficiently to allow participation in other social, cultural and economic activities. www.madre.org

Metropolitan Community Church

The Metropolitan Community Church commits to redouble its efforts to support and implement the Millennium Development Goals. The Church will also teach gender-equality throughout its congregations and advocate for justice for all people regardless of their gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, class or race. www.mccchurch.org

Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps commits to expand its Giving Leadership Opportuni­ties to Young Women (GLOW) program in partnership with the Nike Foundation to incorporate and then expand institutionalized learn­ing opportunities. Through InterAction's participatory Gender Audit process, they will also create an agency-wide survey of gender ca­pacity in current programs. Through a Mercy Corps scholarship of $100,000 (granted by Nike), Mercy Corps will help the Nike Founda­tion maximize the effectiveness of their grant-making with regards to adolescent girls in poverty. www.mercycorps.org

Mission Life Center (MLC)

The Mission Life Center is a nonprofit that provides spiritual and med­ical care in local communities, supports community development in sub-Saharan Africa and pairs volunteers with global missionary op­portunities. As its commitment for women and girls, the organiza­tion is starting new programming in Sudan focused on eradicating female genital mutilation. The MLC will partner with the leadership of Sudanese health clinics and schools to raise awareness about the severe effects of female genital mutilation. Furthermore, MLC will facilitate focus groups to determine and implement the best strate­gies for empowering women to begin eliminating this deep-seated practice. www.missionlifecenter.org

Mobility International USA

Mobility International USA will provide consultation to committed Breakthrough partners to ensure their projects include at least five percent of women and girls with disabilities as beneficiaries, staff and/or advisors. Through these new partnerships, they will work to­ward ending the historical discrimination and exclusion of disabled women and girls in international development. The goal is to reach the poorest of the poor so that women with disabilities can become active participants in civil society and future leaders of their coun­tries. www.miusa.org

Muslim Women's Coalition (MWC)

MWC will foster gender equality by educating women about their rights and providing them with success stories of women within the Muslim Community. They will accomplish this through the creation of a publication that highlights women of the Muslim faith who are mothers, leaders, activists, and educators in their communities, as well as by engaging women in a series of empowerment workshops and seminars. www.mwcoalition.org

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA (NCC), Justice for Women Working Group

The NCC Justice for Women Working Group commits to increase women's participation and leadership within the NCC and its mem­ber communities. They will monitor women's participation at deci­sion-making tables and encourage age, racial and economic diversi­ty. To safeguard women's involvement, they will distribute a brochure at all NCC meetings about prevention of sexual harassment. www.ncccusa.org

NETWORK

NETWORK: A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby, commits to increasing funding appropriations for economic and educational de­velopment programs that serve the most vulnerable populations in the poorest countries by 25 percent by 2010. www.networklobby.org

Oikocredit

Oikocredit USA commits to raise and invest an additional $10 million in micro-credit resources by 2010. This level of investment has the potential to create approximately 73,000 microenterprises and cre­ate 146,000 jobs in the next five years. www.oikocredit.org

Opportunity International

Insurance for Adolescent Girls

Opportunity International commits $1.5 million to reduce the vulner­ability of over 500,000 African adolescent girls through the creation and delivery of innovative micro-insurance products in conjunction with the NIKE Foundation.

Investing in Women in India

Opportunity International also pledges $1.5 million in 2008 to ex­pand the reach of their microfinance programs in India, with the goal of empowering 275,000 women by 2012 with business loans and training that in turn help lift their communities out of poverty. www.opportunity.org

Pathfinder International

Pathfinder International will implement a three-year, $2 million proj­ect to improve the health and welfare of women and mitigate the adverse effects of high population growth by increasing access to family planning services and clean water in eight districts in northern Uganda. Having worked in Uganda since the late 1950s, Pathfinder will mobilize its extensive network of partners in order to broaden its impact. www.pathfind.org

People's Advocacy

People's Advocacy will organize rural groups in three to five Egyp­tian governates to participate in the local and national policy making processes during the 2009 Presidential Elections in Egypt. While ru­ral groups are traditionally 100 percent men, People's Advocacy will commit $5,000 to ensure that women comprise 20 percent of each of these groups. The program will impact 20 to 30 women, in addition to other the women who will assist in the grassroots efforts or benefit from inclusion of women. www.peoplesadvocacy.org

Religions for Peace

Religions for Peace will build alliances and strengthen the capacities of its Global Women of Faith Network in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, North America and Europe to advocate for the elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls. It will mobilize religious leaders to ensure the commitment of their gov­ernments to achieve the Millenium Development Goals, as they link to the attainment of gender equality and women's empowerment. Finally, it will develop a multi-religious toolkit on the role of religions in ending gender-based violence. www.rfpusa.org

RESULTS

RESULTS commits to intensifying advocacy efforts for increased U.S. foreign assistance for microfinance and ensuring that 50 percent of those funds reach the very poor, including urging $500 million for microfinance in FY09. RESULTS will also intensify its advocacy efforts to compel the World Bank to increase investment in effective mi­crofinance programs, ensuring that at least half of those resources directly benefit those living on $1 or less per day. It is estimated that these activities will impact 79 million women. www.results.org

RESULTS Education Fund (REF)

REF will expand the scope and impact of its Education for All Cam­paign to increase the quality and quantity of basic education invest­ments from the U.S., key donor countries, and multilateral institu­tions. Advocacy efforts will include strengthening oversight of basic education funding to ensure U.S. programs support countries with approved Fast Track Initiative National Education Plans ($500 mil­lion in FY09 for these countries) and enable abolition of school fees. Impact is estimated at 72 million primary school-aged children, 57 percent of whom are girls. www.results.org

Save the Children

Investing in Adolescent Girls

Save the Children will launch new projects for adolescent girls in Egypt and Malawi. Elements of these programs include literacy, life skills, health training, sports, and village savings and loan groups. Randomized control studies in Bangladesh are investigating which packages make the greatest impact on young girls at risk of early marriage and their families. The total costs of these initiatives exceed $2.5 million.

Early Child Care and Education

Save the Children will invest $20 million in an initiative to ensure community childcare faciliaties and schools meet women's and girls' childcare needs and also improve educational quality for girls. This program will directly affect the lives of at least 300,000 women and girls. www.savethechildren.org

St. Columba's Episcopal Church

St. Columba's Episcopal Church in Washington DC commits to craft­ing a concrete plan of action about how the parish can take action engender the Millennium Development Goals and increase educa­tion around women's issues within their constituency by 2010. They will craft and implement these goals through partnerships with the Diocese Leadership, member churches, and parishioners. www.columba.org

Toledo Area Ministries (TAM)

TAM will raise awareness of the needs of women and girls in its community, and will engage Christians in addressing these needs through ministries of prayer, relationship-building, service and em­powerment. It will support the work of Second Chance which is an initiative that improves the lives of those affected by sexual exploita­tion. It will also lead the Toledo Area Hunger Task Force, and fund the Community Food Project. Second Chance will cost $325,000 per year, and TAM is requesting $100,000 from USDA for the Community Food Project. www.tamohio.org

United Nations Development Programme-USA (UNDP-USA)

UNDP-USA is empowering women by providing scholarships to women living in Somalia who wish to continue their education past secondary school. By removing the financial barrier to higher edu­cation, we enable Somali women to develop the skills necessary to rebuild their war-ravaged nation. A stable Somalia will need doctors to ensure healthy communities, lawyers to maintain rule of law, jour­nalist to hold the government accountable, and knowledgable bu­reaucrats to ensure the government provides services needed by its citizens. http://undp-usa.org

United Nations Foundation (UNF)

UNF will strengthen its advocacy and public outreach efforts to ele­vate adolescent girls as a global development priority. It will achieve this by engaging various sectors, including the faith-based commu­nity. One aspect of this work is mobilization to end fistula through increased prevention and treatment in affected areas. In conjunction with the Nike Foundation, UNF will also continue to focus attention on the challenges and needs of adolescent girls through convenings and reports such as its groundbreaking report "Girls Count: A Global Investment & Action Agenda." The report makes the case for invest­ing in and advocating for adolescent girls. www.unfoundation.org

United Nations Foundation (UNF) (Cluster Commitment)

Led by UNF, the participating organizations will collaborate on the elimination of obstetric fistula through raising the awareness of mem­bers, the afflicted communities, and the broader public. Supporting organizations will also promote prevention and proper treatment. Additionally, the UN Foundation will provide 3 grants to faith-based organizations for outreach efforts. It will also work with partners to quantify the investments needed to end fistula within this genera­tion. Organizations that have signed on include the Americans for UNFPA, American Jewish World Service, Catholics for Choice, Inter­national Center for Research on Women, Jewish Women Internation­al, National Council of Churches USA, Population Council, UNFPA, UN Interagency Taskforce for Adolescent Girls, United Methodist Church, Muslim Women's Coalition, Global Heath Council, Fistula Foundation and One by One. www.unfoundation.org

United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)

UNIFEM and Religions for Peace are developing a partnership using the comparative advantages of each organization to promote the priority of ending violence against women and empowering women and girls by engaging religious leaders and communities. The part­nership will leverage support for new and ongoing initiatives, includ­ing UNIFEM's global internet "Say NO to Violence against Women" and the Secretary-General's recently announced UN system-wide and multi-year effort to end violence against women. www.unifem.org

Washington National Cathedral

The Washington National Cathedral commits to incorporate mes­saging about the importance of investing in women as a vehicle to achieving the MDGs. It commits to faithfully and continuously articu­late the relationship between gender inequality and global poverty. The Dean will issue a statement of the Cathedral's support for this vision, followed by a series of website and printed publications. The Cathedral will integrate into its strategic planning processes a plan to further integrate gender empowerment throughout its program­ming and proclamation. www.cathedral.org/cathedral

Winrock International

Winrock International pledges to launch a $1 million program called Scholarships for African Girls' Education (SAGE) in 2008. SAGE will provide life skills training, mentoring, and annual scholarships to Afri­can girls from post-primary school through college graduation (three to siz years support). Winrock will invest its own funds and leverage gifts from corporate, foundation, and individual donors. SAGE will partner with local NGOs and governments in program implementa­tion. The goal is to support 100-300 girls per year in every country in which it implements this program. www.winrock.org

Women of Reform Judaism (WRJ)

WRJ will focus its new programming and enhanced advocacy efforts on reducing women's poverty and promoting their well being world­wide by developing and disseminating programming resources to its affiliates and women's networks in North America and abroad. The issues that these programs tackle include, primary and secondary education, abuse, trafficking, and sexual exploitation, and health. Resources for on-the-ground programs will be coupled with advo­cacy efforts that engage local women.www.womenofreformjudaism.org

Women Thrive Worldwide (Thrive), formerly the Women's Edge Coalition

Thrive commits to a multi-year advocacy campaign on Women, Trade & Africa. They will work with women's organizations in Africa to identify and advocate for U.S. government support for the most promising strategies to help women lift themselves out of poverty, such as securing property rights and increasing agricultural produc­tivity. They will also advocate that funding for the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) enables women to better participate in global trade. www.womenthrive.org

Women's Funding Network

The Women's Funding Network commits to increase their grant making base for the purpose of dismantling poverty by providing fundraising and capacity-building programs. The organization in­tends to raise $5 million over the next five years as well as generate an additional $25 million for grants to support women's solutions to poverty. Fundraising programs include the Women Moving Millions campaign, consumer philanthropy, and an online giving project. The Network has over 125 members located on six continents. www.wfnet.org

Women's Foreign Policy Group (WFPG)

WFPG will hold two mentoring fairs each year: one in Washington, DC and one in New York, NY. These fairs will create learning and net­working opportunities for young women interested in international affairs. The fairs are estimated to impact 250-300 young women. www.wfpg.org

World Hope International (WHI)

WHI's microfinance program, which currently operates in Cambodia, Indonesia, Liberia, Sierra Leone, commits to expand into Egypt by the end of 2008. Over the next five years, WHI's Microfinance In­stitutions will increase their client outreach to 110,000 individuals directly receiving loans and will provide financial services. An addi­tional 100,000 clients will receive loans from WHI's partner institu­tions through the WHI MicroCap Fund program. These programs are estimated to impact 178,500 women and cost $10.5 million. www.worldhope.org

Inter-Religious Commitment List of Signatures

Margaret Arach; Inter-Faith Action for Peace in Africa (IFAPA), Christian

Hamid Byamugenzi; Inter-Faith Action for Peace in Africa, Muslim

The Right Reverend John Bryson Chane; Bishop of Washington

Ahmad El Bendary; Founder & Senior Advisor, Islamic Relief USA

Uzma Farooq; Vice -President, Muslim Women's Coalition, Director For The Greater Washington DC Area

Rev. Dirk Ficca; Executive Director, Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions

Bishop Sumoward Harris; Inter-Faith Action for Peace in Africa, Christian

Judith M. Hertz; Co-chair Commission on Interreligious Affairs, Union for Reform Judaism

Robert Hounon; Inter-Faith Action for Peace in Africa, African Traditional Religion

Daisy Khan; Executive Director, American Society for Muslim Advancement (ASMA); Founder, Women's Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equity (WISE)

Rev. Michael Kinnamon, Ph.D.; General Secretary; National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA

The Reverend Dr. Clifton Kirkpatrick; Stated Clerk, Presbyterian Church (USA)

Constance Kreshtool; Past President, Women of Reform Judaism

Shelley Lindauer; Executive Director, Women of Reform Judaism

Ms. Hajia Katumi Mahama; President, Muslim Women's Organization of Ghana; Coordinator, African Women of Faith Network, Religions for Peace

Gail E. Mangel; National President, Church Women United

Rev. Samuel Nixon, Jr.; Executive Director Missions, Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc.

The Reverend Dr. Ishmael Noko; General Secretary, Lutheran World Federation

Rev. Ilukpittye Pannasekara; Inter-Faith Action for Peace in Africa, Buddhist

Prabhudas Pattni; Inter-Faith Action for Peace in Africa, Hindu

Rev. Dr. Tyrone Pitts; General Secretary, Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc.

Feisal Abdul Rauf; Imam, Masjid Al Farah; and Founder & CEO, Cordoba Initiative

The Most Reverend Katharine Jefferts Schori; Presiding Bishop and Primate, The Episcopal Church

Rosanne M. Selfon; President, Women of Reform Judaism

Hadja Mariama Sow; Inter-Faith Action for Peace in Africa, Muslim

Rev. Dr. T. DeWitt Smith, Jr.; President; Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc.

John Thomas; General Minister and President of United Church of Christ

Lucretia Warren; Inter-Faith Action for Peace in Africa, Baha'i

The Rev. Dr. Robert K. Welsh; General Secretary of the Disciples Ecumenical Consultative Council

James E. Winkler; General Secretary, General Board of Church & Society, United Methodist Church

Rabbi Eric Yoffie; President, Union for Reform Judaism

Women, Faith, and Development Alliance: Massachusetts and Wisconsin Avenues, NW, Washington D.C. 20016