The W.V.F.R.W. Spring Board will be here before we know it! Just one of the items to look forward to is Michelle Bekkering as a guest speaker. Read on for more information.
" We believe that a full and robust democracy depends on the equal participation of
women." Established in March 2006, the Women’s Democracy Network (WDN) is an
initiative of the International Republican Institute to increase women’s political
participation, leadership and representation in elected office.
WDN accomplishes this goal by linking these women with their peers in other
countries who share similar struggles, providing mentorship from experienced women
who have are leaders in their fields, and through skills-building trainings designed
to target their identified needs.
A team led by WDN Director Michelle Bekkering at the International Republican
Institute in Washington, DC oversees the global Network, fosters communication among
its members, and conducts events and trainings around the world.
Most importantly, the WDN is a member-driven network and depends on guidance
directly from its membership to determine the needs of women across the globe. This
information is used to design and implement programming and to accurately address
the issues and concerns of Network members.
To date, the Network is active in 60 countries in every region of the world. In 15
countries, women have formed WDN Country Chapters which are partnerships between WDN
and groups of members within a country. Country Chapters coalesce women under one
umbrella to target the barriers which restrict women’s empowerment in their country.
What sets WDN Country Chapters apart from other women’s organizations in their
countries is that membership is multi-sector and multi-partisan.
