Aiming for a world where no woman suffers from violence, and no one lives in poverty.
ISF is a Finnish NGO founded in 1970 that promotes women’s rights in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somaliland.
We are experts in preventing female genital mutilation and promoting sustainable livelihood opportunities for women.
The majority of our funding comes from the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, but we also receive support from the European Union.
Private donors are another cornerstone of our work: one-third of our funds come from individuals.
Our work is guided by our strategy and development cooperation programs Our mission is to build a world where women and girls are safe from violence and people have access to sustainable income.
We support development that strengthens democracy, equality and human rights internationally, and invite people in Finland to work towards building an equitable world.
Our work impacts the lives of over 85 000 people in over 100 communities. With over 50 years on Finnish development know-how, we are an experienced NGO that knows how to make a difference.
people benefited from our work.
women entrepeneurs received support to improve their income and production.
growth in monthly income for Somali families who took part in our livelihood projects.
religious and local leaders and influencers learned about the harmful impact of FGM.
pupils learned about their rights.
girls took part in four ARP camps where they found refuge from the threat of FGM.
Our added value is based on well-designed, focused and transparent programme activities. Our strength is our direct contact with beneficiaries and development challenges. Our projects are based on the needs of the local communities and the people who benefit from them always take part in the process. Our principles include a long-term commitment and partnership with the beneficiaries.
Our project effectiveness is guaranteed by broad country-based knowledge, sustainable way of working, and allocation of responsibility to local partner organisations.
The empowerment of women and girls is at the heart of the theory of change. For us, empowerment is a process by which women expand their ability to make
But such does happen in vacuum nor by sole pin-point actions. This is why our work combines measures that work towards eradicting harmful measures such as female genital mutilation and gender-based violence and creating sustainable income possibilities for women.
Since true and lasting chance for women demands both avenues: better income, realized rights. In our work the complement each others. One might call it a nexus approach, we call it the most efficient way to make change happen.
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Our annual reports, financial statements and such in one place.
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Our fifty and some years working towards better future.
We deal with all complaints involving our target communities with utmost confidentiality and transparency.
