Largest Programs

MADRE reported its largest program on its FY 2020 Form 990 as:

MADRE is an international human rights organization and women's fund that partners with community-based, women-led organizations on the frontlines of war, climate breakdown, and their aftermath. Our m ... (More)
MADRE is an international human rights organization and women's fund that partners with community-based, women-led organizations on the frontlines of war, climate breakdown, and their aftermath. Our mission is to advance human rights and social justice by meeting urgent needs in communities and creating lasting solutions to the crises of our time.Founded in 1983, MADRE uplifts the leadership of visionary young women and girls, Indigenous women, Afro-descendant women, LGBTIQ people, and people with disabilities. We offer a holistic model of support to our grassroots partners using three interconnected strategiesgrantmaking, organizational strengthening, and legal advocacyto address immediate priorities identified by our partners and forge opportunities for women and girls to assert their agency and create lasting social change. Through these strategies, we provide long-term and flexible financial and direct service support, particularly to women's groups in marginalized communities facing war or disaster. Since inception, MADRE has distributed a total of more than $56 million in grants and in-kind support to grassroots partners in Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.We work across three core program areas: (1) Ending Gender Violence to prevent and redress gender-based abuse and help survivors heal; (2) Advancing Climate Justice to sustain and amplify our partners vital interventions and strategies to confront climate breakdown; and (3) Building a Just Peace to uplift the work of women and girls to avert, resolve, and build back from war and conflict. Over the past year, MADRE increased our emergency grantmaking to respond to the global COVID-19 pandemic, granting rapid funding to 31 existing and new partners led by women and girls. Our model of funding based on mutual trust was key to responding rapidly and effectively so partners had the resources to prepare for and confront the crisis. The majority of our partner organizations (69%) reported that no other emergency funding was available to them during the pandemic because of restrictions they faced in traditional funding by INGOs and governments. Examples of Recent Accomplishments in FY20Ending Gender Violence: MADRE helps survivors heal from abuse and become powerful advocates for every person's right to live free of violence. - We supported young women and girls with disabilities in Sierra Leone confronting gender-based violence, who created online platforms to track and report abuse. - We equipped shelters for survivors of violence in Iraq with food and pandemic protective equipment and supported a public education campaign to raise awareness of preventing and addressing domestic violence. - Our partners responded to skyrocketing levels of domestic violence in Palestine, where women shared information and provided counseling for domestic violence survivors via digital tools. We've also compiled our strategies from our partners across the world into a new toolkit for confronting domestic violence for grassroots organizations worldwide. - In the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nicaragua, we helped grassroots groups launch radio campaigns to denounce and prevent domestic violence while helping to connect survivors to services like shelter. - In Tanzania and Cameroon, MADRE funded Indigenous young women leaders who organized workshops encouraging girls to express their views on topics like girls education and mental health. These young women leaders also facilitated meetings with other community stakeholders like parents and religious leaders, so that they can learn from girls perspectives. - In Mexico, our partner organization created space for young Indigenous girls and led youth collectives on reproductive health in their communities. Their trainings are a response to the sexual and reproductive health risks young people encounter when they migrate, such as gender-based violence and unwanted pregnancy. Advancing Climate Justice: MADRE amplifies the voices and solutions of women on the frontlines of the global climate crisis. - We supported Indigenous women farmers in Nepal to plant organic farms and tree nurseries and to learn sustainable irrigation and harvesting techniques. As a result of our support, 110 women organized and founded four new groups of women farmers to continue the momentum of this work. - MADREs grassroots partners tackled the growing food crisis. When food markets shuttered because of COVID-19, and the government neglected Guatemala's remote communities, our local Indigenous partners provided a lifeline distributing essential food baskets to help people survive during the pandemic. - In Kenya, where our Indigenous partners face drought, we had already set up tanks to collect rainwater for drinking and cooking. During the pandemic, our partners were able to use them to supply handwashing stations for local communities. Building a Just Peace: MADRE strengthens women's capabilities to prevent, survive, resolve, and recover from war and armed conflict. - We partnered with Afro-descendent organizations in Colombia to push for the greater recognition of their marginalized communities in peacebuilding and transitional justice processes to rebuild their country from decades of war. In particular, we uplifted the voices of youth as they recover from war, sharing their experiences and demands with policymakers. - We sustained the efforts of local organizations in Yemen to set up water stations and train 300 volunteer health workers in communities facing violence and the threat of COVID-19. Furthermore, we amplified the voices of Yemeni women peacebuilders in US policy spaces. - After one of the deadliest explosions in the country's history, we took immediate action in Beirut, Lebanon to support those often left out of emergency aid migrant domestic workers, Syrian and Palestinian refugees, and LGBTIQ youth. We also sent funds to a team of young people rebuilding housing for low-income elders with disabilities. - We sent urgent aid to Kurdish communities in Syria when Trump greenlit a Turkish attack against them, and we sent an emergency grant to a local women's rights group to help them relocate two centers in Idlib to safer areas and provide much-needed trauma counseling. (Less)