The New Woman Foundation ( NWF) is an Egyptian feminist non-governmental organization.
NWF envisions a world free from all sorts of discrimination against human beings, women in general and the most marginalized categories in particular with specific focus on their economic and social rights.
NWF believes in women’s unconditional right to freedom equality and social justice and consider women’s social, political, economic, citizenship and reproductive rights as an integral part of human rights. In this context, NWF believes that the struggle for woman cannot be separated from the struggle of nations and people for freedom and liberation from oppression.
Therefore the three main identified objectives of change include:
1. Contribute in the development of legal structures laws and policies that can ensure gender equality.
2. Engagement of varied large and effective groups of women in civil society to widen the scope of their participation in the public space and
3. The development of youth leadership able to defend and support women’s rights from a feminist perspective.
It began is activities in 1984 as informal study group, initially formed by a number of women who were activities on issue of democracy and social Justice.
The organization has since evolved to embrace numerous activities as well as different generations. It has also taken on different legal forms and was recently registered with the ministry of social affairs in 2004 as a foundation in accordance with law 84/2002.
NWF conducts action-oriented studies and carries out consultations with several sectors of women in order to identify the needs requiring intervention; as a result of this effort, appropriate trainings are provided to specific categories of women, mainly women workers, on women’s rights, capacity building, skills of negotiation and campaigning; advocacy is conducted through campaigns including the publication of statements and articles, providing interviews to various media, developing demands and draft amendments to laws that are submitted to parliamentarians whenever this is possible.
Other sectors are also targeted by NWF activities, including men, feminist organizations and grassroots NGOs, women candidates to local councils, media workers, and parliamentarians.
NWF activities are distributed over four main programs:
