Women for Women International’s contract with Soroptimist International provides that Soroptimist International will raise awareness and funds to expand capacity of Women for Women International's programs in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Rwanda as well as to support 1,200 individual women directly as they move from victim to survivor to active citizen.

In 2004, Women for Women International:

• Distributed more than $4 million in direct aid and microcredit loans, increasing the total amount of aid distributed in our eleven year history to $18 million;
• Provided program services to an additional 17,000 women in 8 countries;
• Facilitated the exchange of 44,000 letters between sponsors and their sisters;
• To date, we have assisted more than 33,000 women survivors of war; and,
• Indirectly helped an additional 36,000 family members survive the aftermath of war. To date, our programs have given women the tools they need to improve the lives of some 140,000 family members.

Country Programs:

Women for Women International provides its core program in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Rwanda to address the immediate and long-term needs of women in conflict and post-conflict environments. With the support of Soroptimist International and Project Independence: Women Survivors of War, Women for Women International deepened and expanded its program services in 2004 to provide nearly 5,200 additional women with our programs in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Rwanda.

Afghanistan:
- Women for Women International expanded its program to women outside of Kabul, and is now working with 700 women in rural provinces where women are traditionally isolated from such services.
- Expanded program services to include Health Training classes for participants. The Health Training Initiative covers basic hygiene and preventative health techniques women can use for themselves and their families, and an additional training class covers safe techniques for traditional birth attendants.
- Expanded training classes to include literacy and numeracy in response to participants’ requests.
- Partnered with the Afghanistan Ministry of Women’s Affairs in 2004 to provide voter education to women through our rights awareness and leadership education classes; nearly 2,000 of our program participants registered to vote for the very first time.
- Started a microcredit program in 2004 and by December approximately $100,000 had been distributed to 600 clients. Many of the women who received loans are interested in starting or expanding an agri-business; the loans will fund activities such as buying/raising a cow or chickens to sell milk or eggs in the market, or cultivating and selling vegetables.

Bosnia and Herzegovina:
- In April 2004, Women for Women International began offering program services to victims of trafficking in a shelter in Sarajevo. These participants are women who have suffered severe psychological and sexual abuse and humiliation.
- In 2004, Women for Women International distributed 3,369 loans with a total of $2,628,581 disbursed. Individual loans were also introduced for women who have participated in the program for a number of years and successfully completed several group loan cycles, but still do not qualify for a bank loan.
- After graduating from the core program, participants are eligible to participate in a human rights and leadership training project launched in February 2004 to help women leaders in rural areas take active roles in their communities.

Rwanda:
- Project Independence helped the office transition to a locally-operated and managed chapter, with a local director taking over office operations in October 2004.
- The organization provided malaria prevention training to women in the program that focused on low-cost prevention methods, such as mosquito nets, instead of unaffordable medications for the prevention and treatment of malaria.
- The project will also help expand income-generating opportunities for participants by exploring and supporting additional vocational skills trainings. New trainings have been added in the areas of basket-making and in the use of knitting machines. Other areas being explored are soap-making, solar stove production and shoe-making.