Frequently Asked Questions

What is WFDA?

The Women, Faith, and Development Alliance (WFDA) is a unique partnership of internationally focused faith, development, and women's organizations dedicated to engendering global efforts to reduce poverty by increasing political will and action to increase investments in women's and girls' empowerment around the world.

WFDA is focused on one 'big idea': to join women and men in international faith, development and women's organizations to mobilize around the bold moral imperative of ending global poverty and empowering women and girls. WFDA targets key United States and international policy makers to raise the level of attention to gender and women in the Millennium Development Goals, the United Nations, national campaigns on global poverty and international gatherings for ending global poverty. WFDA's success will be measured by policy change and new resources allocated for women's and girl's empowerment.

Why invest in women?

A majority of the world's one billion people living on less than one dollar a day are women. Studies have shown that investing in women's education and health care, providing adequate opportunities for work and access to a society's decision-making processes are crucial for reducing poverty and yields benefits for women, their families and societies. Empowered women are agents of the common good and uplift the well-being of the human family overall.

What is unique about WFDA? Will it make a difference?

Women's organizations, development organizations and faith networks have a long history of working to eradicate poverty and empower women but have never before collaborated at the level envisioned by this new alliance. Faith and development groups have been active and effective on debt, trade and development issues but have not put their collective weight behind women's advancement and development. The combined cross-sector advocacy of these communities visibly operating outside the traditional foreign policy corridors, and the inclusion of women's groups and faith and development leaders from the global south provides the strategic advantage for WFDA.
WFDA seeks to embody and reflect the uniqueness of this new alliance in highly participatory processes that draw on the deep wisdom of the participants to create profound personal and structural transformation.

How do I join WFDA?
Organizations who support the goals and vision of WFDA can join by completing the Membership form that is available on the website (LINK to Breakthrough Institutional partnership form). Individuals are encouraged to join the mailing list for regular updates from WFDA.

What is Breakthrough?

Breakthrough: The Women’s, Faith and Development Summit to End Global Poverty held April 13 and 14, 2008 in Washington, DC was the launching platform for the Women, Faith and Development Alliance's (WFDA) international multi year advocacy campaign to increase resources for the development of women and girls.

What are the goals of Breakthrough?

  • Affirm the moral imperative to end global poverty;
  • Present a clear and compelling case for investment in women and girls as key to alleviating global poverty;
  • Make visible and strengthen a unique alliance among the women, faith and development communities by gathering key leaders and manifesting a public commitment to the WFDA advocacy platform;
  • Build political will and accountability by engaging international and US political leaders and US presidential candidates as champions of the policy and legislative changes required for increased investment in women and girls;
  • Promote monitoring processes for progress towards increased investments in women and girls on both national and international levels;
  • Educate the media regarding the importance of targeting women and girls in the efforts of ending poverty and the specific advocacy platform
  • Accelerate a multi-year international advocacy campaign by offering formal and institutions, as well as individuals, a range of action and investment opportunities having immediate impact on women and girls.

What were the outcomes of Breakthrough?
At Breakthrough, over 90 organizations announced new commitments of $1.4 billion in new resources to programs for women and girls with an estimated impact on over 1 billion women in dozens of countries.

What happens after Breakthrough?

Following Breakthrough, the WFDA will move to implement the advocacy and education campaign, coordinate targeted electronic engagement and support country-level advocacy and activities in the global south that reinforce the US-based actions. To avoid duplication of effort, WFDA will coordinate closely with other large coalitions against global poverty like the ONE Campaign, UN Coalition of Women and AIDS, Global Women's Action Network for Children and Coalition for Adolescent Girls.

Where can I get more information?

Additional information on WFDA is available by contacting Mary Pat Brennan at mbrennan@cathedral.org or 202-537-3184.

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