Vision Statement

Women of the North West exists to create a learning environment where women and men have the opportunity to explore, participate in and achieve equality of citizenship. This vision is underpinned by the principle that women as citizens have the right to participate equally with men in the economic and social structures of their community.

Objectives

To act as a developmental structure for the betterment of women.
To seek ways and means of promoting social and economic development for women.
To cultivate confidence and a political awareness.
To contribute to the personal development of individual members.
To claim a space at community level, to provide a focus and valuing of the work and needs of the members.
To assist in the creation of a learning environment

40% of women live in rural Ireland, (i.e. 518,476). Farmwomen and families rely heavily on off-farm income or social welfare payments to supplement their farm income. (Second Commission on the Status of Women 1993)

Women of the North West seek to have the work and role of rural women valued because: -

Women's labour contribution is vital to the maintenance of the rural economy. (Boserup 1970)

Yet we do not know why women's economic contribution is undervalued. (Shorthall 1999)

Neither do we know why mainstream adult education and training effectively excludes rural women by failing to meet their needs.

For this reason the organisation seeks to implement education and training programmes suitable to the situational needs of rural women.

The promotion of Women's Health is a priority development for the organisation:

By the building of communication amongst the community of women, women's groups and service agencies the organizations endeavours to increase the capacity of women to participate as equal citizens in decision-making structures at local community, regional and national level.

In August 1997 the Western Health Board - Women's Health Advisory Committee of which Women of the North West is a member completed a Western Health Boards Regional Plan for Women's Health and it was approved by the health board in September 1998. The regional plan for women's health specifies three main objectives:

To maximize the health and social gain for women in the Western Health Board region.

To create a woman-friendly health service.

To increase consultation and representation of women in the health services. (Western Health Board 2000:11).

These objectives repeat three of the four objectives of the national women's health plan. The regional plan identifies the principle of equity as a key priority objective of the health board.