International Center for Research on Women

International Center for Research on Women

Abbreviation	ICRW
Motto	ICRW seeks to promote a world free of poverty in which women and men, girls and boys have equal opportunities to achieve their potential and realize their rights.
Formation	1976
Location	Washington, D.C.
President	Sarah Degnan Kambou
Website	http://www.icrw.org

The International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) is a non-profit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, with a regional office in New Delhi, India. ICRW has project offices in Mumbai and Hyderabad India, and is establishing a formal presence in East Africa. ICRW works to promote gender equitable development within the field of international development.

Mission

According to the organization Web site:

ICRW's mission is to empower women, advance gender equality and fight poverty in the developing world. To accomplish this, ICRW works with partners to conduct empirical research, build capacity and advocate for evidence-based, practical ways to change policies and programs.

Focus areas

ICRW research identifies women's contributions to their communities and the barriers – like HIV, violence, and lack of education – that prevent them from being economically stable and able to fully participate in society. It focuses on three paths of action to achieve this:

• Designing concrete, evidence-based plans for program designers, donors and policymakers that empower women to control their lives and help shape the future of their communities

• Measuring changes in the lives of women and girls – as well as men and boys – to know how best to achieve gender equality

• Recommending policy priorities that give women opportunities to transform their lives

Some of its priorities include the economic empowerment of women, the prevention of HIV/AIDS among women and girls, the elimination of violence against women, the creation of better life options for women and girls, combating child marriage, and increasing food security for vulnerable women.

ICRW is primarily a research institution whose strong quantitative and qualitative research contributes to the direct action of organizations and communities in which they work.

ICRW's tagline is, "ICRW turns insight into action."

Leadership

The board of directors of the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) announced June 14, 2010 that it has appointed social scientist Sarah Degnan Kambou president of the organization. Degnan Kambou served for two years as ICRW’s chief operating officer (COO) under former president Geeta Rao Gupta, and then as interim president and COO after Rao Gupta stepped down in April 2010.

Degnan Kambou joined ICRW in 2002. As COO, she led the organization’s research and programs, finance and human resources departments as well as ICRW’s Asia Regional Office in New Delhi, India. Before that, she was vice president of health and development, overseeing research in HIV and AIDS, reproductive health and nutrition as well as in gender, violence and women’s rights.

In 2010, Degnan Kambou was appointed by United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to represent ICRW on the U.S. National Commission for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Degnan Kambou holds a doctorate in international health policy and a master’s in public health from Boston University. She earned her bachelor's degree in French from the University of Connecticut.

Degnan Kambou is ICRW’s fourth president in its 35-year history. At its New Delhi office, Ravi Verma is the director and other important people include Prasenjit Banerjee and Priya Nanda.

Board of directors

ICRW has been directed by several renowned and well-recognized individuals within the field of international development as well as other key private sector and government individuals, including Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen, writer Ann Crittenden, and Brooke Shearer (deceased, May 19, 2009), spouse of Strobe Talbott, director of the Brookings Institution.

The current board of directors is available on ICRW's Web site.

Annual events and lectures

ICRW annually hosts the Irene Tinker Lecture, a fall lecture series named in honor of one of ICRW's founders and supporters, Dr. Irene Tinker. The lecture series has included speakers such as Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland, and Nobel Laureate in Economics, Amartya Sen.

ICRW's annual Champions for Change Awards—held on the eve of International Women's Day—has become Washington DC’s signature event to celebrate the possibilities of a gender equitable world and to shine a light on the leaders and visionaries who are helping make it a reality.

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the organization, ICRW hosted a 30th Anniversary Gala in 2006, held at the Kennedy Center on March 8, 2006. Honorees included Philip Knight of the Nike Foundation, Susan Berresford of the Ford Foundation and two international non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Actress Gina Davis served as Mistress of Ceremonies.

According to ICRW's website the organization will celebrate its 35th anniversary in 2011 with Passports to Progress, a year-long lecture series to advance global dialogue on how to empower the world's women. Speakers include NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell, Dr. Rajiv Shah, Administrator, U.S. Agency for International Development, Cherie Blair of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, Landesa's President and CEO Tim Hanstad, and Gap Inc.’s Bobbi Silten

External links

• Official ICRW website
• Charity Navigator information and ratings
• Sarah Degnan Kambou Appointed ICRW President