The Population Council, an international, non-profit, non-governmental organization, seeks to improve the well-being and reproductive health of current and future generations around the world and to help achieve a humane, equitable, and sustainable balance between people and resources.

Since 1952, the Population Council has been the premier international organization conducting biomedical, public health, and social science research on population issues.

The council opened an office in South Africa in 1999 initially to support HIV/Aids research under the US Agency for International Development–funded Horizons program. However, the program grew to include work on reproductive health , gender and youth.

Recently, the Population Council teamed up with Masimanyane to develop “The Caregiver Project”, which trains grandmothers to serve as peer supporters for elderly caregivers of HIV children. The grandmothers provide information on paediatric HIV testing and treatment.

 

Telephone:+27 11 781 7590/7594
Facsimile: +27 11 326 1483
E-mail: info.joburg@popcouncil.org or pubinfo@popcouncil.org

Websites: www.popcouncil.org or to visit the South African website go to www.popcouncil.org/africa/southafrica.html 

 

 

 

Established 30 years ago, POWA still sticks to its original objectives; that of empowering women and creating a safer society that does not tolerate violence against women where they are self-reliant, equal and respected. POWA still provides a strong voice for women in South Africa and offers counselling, legal support and training.

Cell: 083 765 1235

Email: info@powa.co.za

Tel: 011 642 4345/6

Website: www.powa.co.za

 

 

Tsireledzani, which means “let’s protect” in tshiVenda, was recently created through the partnership that includes The National Prosecuting Authority, the Department of Home Affairs, International Labour Organisation, International Organisation for Migration and Metro FM, as a project to counter the issue of human trafficking that currently plagues South Africa. The project is part of a wider programme of activities, which includes research, capacity building and awareness raising to prevent and react to human trafficking in the country.

 

Tel: +27 12 845 6000

Email: tip-pcu@npa.gov.za

 

 

Since Charlotte Bunch founded the Centre for Women's Global Leadership (CWGL) in 1989, it has grown from strength to strength. According to their website, CWGL “develops and facilitates women's leadership for women's human rights and social justice worldwide.”  CWGL works from a human rights perspective with an emphasis on violence against women, sexual and reproductive health and socio-economic well-being.

 

Tel: 1-732-932-8782

Email: cwgl@rci.rutgers.edu

Website: www.cwgl.rutgers.edu/index.html

 

International Women's Rights Action Watch (IWRAW) Asia Pacific is an international women's rights organisation based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Since 1993, IWRAW has contributed to the “progressive interpretation and realisation of the human rights of women through the lens of the UN Convention on the Elimination Against All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and other international human rights treaties”.

 

Meaning "dignity" in Arabic, Karama is an organisation of women involving nine Arab countries working to address violence against women. According to Open Democracy.net, the World Health Organisation’s report on Women’s Health and Domestic Violence Against Women was what prompted activists to establish Karama in 2002 as women from the Middle East and North Africa were not represented in the survey. This network of activists aim to "break the cycle of Arab women's absence from the global arena and to generate a base line of information, consolidate networks of activists, and carry out tangible actions by women in the Middle East and North Africa to end violence on our own terms”.

It is currently situated in Deheishe Refugee Camp, Bethlehem in the West Bank.

 

Website: www.karama.org/eng/

 

The movement started in 1977 with nothing more than one telephone line and a desire to offer succour for battered women in Oslo. Today they have 50 shelters and five telephone lines. According to their website, krisesenter.com, the shelters do not see women seeking help as "sick" people needing cure. Instead, the sickness lies in society and its structures.  

 

Email: tsm@krisesenter.com

Website: www.krisesenter.com/english/english.html 

 

One of the world's leading human rights organisations, Amnesty International currently has 2.2 million members in more than 150 countries and regions. The organisation has been upholding human rights since 1961. Their headquarters are in London.

 

Tel: +44-20-74135500

Websites: www.amnesty.org. For the South African website go to www.amnesty.org.za

 

According to their website Human Rights Watch (HRW) is “dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world. We stand with victims and activists to prevent discrimination, to uphold political freedom, to protect people from inhumane conduct in wartime, and to bring offenders to justice.”

Human Rights Watch began in 1978 with the creation of Helsinki Watch. It looked to expose and deliberately shame abusive governments that did not comply with the 1975 Helsinki Accords. In the 1980s America Watch, Asia Watch, Africa Watch and Middle East Watch were established to form what was called “The Watch Committees”. In 1988, the organisation adopted the name we know today.

HRW “applies its research methodology to economic, social, and cultural rights, particularly in the areas of education and housing.” It also uses statistical research, satellite photography, and bomb-data analysis, among other new methodologies.

 

Website: www.hrw.org