Our values

The Ecumenical Women’s Initiative seeks to shape its work, approaches and relationships according to the following set of values:
Equality
We believe that God created all people equal and that women and men have the right to equal opportunities regardless of their nationality, ethnic affiliation or religious belief, gender or sex or any other characteristic.
Solidarity
We stand primarily alongside all women in their current situation of injustice as they strive to contribute to a just and peaceful society.
Pluralism
We respect culture and custom, ethnic, religious and national diversity.
Nonviolence
We promote the affirmation of our values and respect of others as a precondition to peaceful coexistence in which human potential is not developed at the expense of others but the opposite - through solidarity, inclusion and cooperation, and the constructive transformation of conflict.

Our history

EWI grew out of the Ecumenical Women’s Solidarity Fund (EWSF), a programme established by the World Council of Churches (WCC) in 1992 in response to the publication of the report “The Rape of Women in War in ex-Yugoslavia” by the WCC Women’s Desk. The Geneva-based programme provided grants to women-led projects which supported women victims of war in the region and was supported by donations from WCC member churches and ecumenical development agencies. Following the programme’s positive evaluation in 2007, recommendations from its grantees indicated the need for an indigenous women’s fund in the region whose key focus would shift from women as victims of war to initiators of social change.
The Ecumenical Women’s Initiative was established on 11th June 2007 by a group of activists and former EWSF grantees from the region.

Legal status

Ecumenical Women’s Initiative is registered as an association on the basis of Article 11 of the Associations Act (Official gazette 74/14) of the Republic of Croatia. It is governed by a regional Assembly with its staff based in Omiš, Croatia.

Annual reports

For a detailed overview of EWI activities in 2022, our narrative and financial reports can be accessed here.

Ecumenical Women’s Initiative

Četvrt kralja Slavca 3

21310 Omiš, Croatia

Tel: +385 21 862 599

Fax: +385 21 757 085

Email: eiz@eiz.hr
© 2023 Ecumenical Women’s Initiative
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