The overarching mission of KMVS is the total empowerment – economic, political and social – of rural women through their awareness-raising, organization and mobilization into local collectives capable of independently addressing gender inequities and engendering a sustainable, socio-economic transformation in the region.KMVS seeks to empower women such that they are capable and confident decision-making partners in village, community and regional development initiatives.
KMVS is based on the idea of collective empowerment. Its central philosophy and guiding premise is that empowerment is a process women themselves must direct and promote in order to best affect change. From this approach, women are not merely the beneficiaries of development or empowerment, but are the designers and implementers of the interventions themselves. KMVS views itself as a catalyzing agent, providing women with resources or access to resources that will enable them to become agents of social change and exert greater control over their own lives. KMVS defines women’s empowerment in the following ways: