August 2017 marks 20 years since FAWCO was granted special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). This status gives FAWCO members a voice at the global level with the UN and the community of UN-accredited international NGOs. Advocacy at the UN allows FAWCO the opportunity to influence global decision-makers.
FAWCO UN Representatives play leadership roles in NGO Committees on the Status of Women and the NGO Committee on Migration, and join partner NGOs in advocacy work. FAWCO Reps participate in meetings of the General Assembly and the Commission on the Status of Women in New York, the Human Rights Council in Geneva, and the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Vienna.
FAWCO's Target Program demonstrates our commitment to contributing actively to achieving the UN's development agenda: the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The current program will raise funds for education, skills and leadership training for refugee girls and their families in Jordan. Past Target Programs provided economic opportunities for sex trafficking survivors in Mozambique, Uganda and El Salvador; wells to supply drinking and agricultural water for 1,500 families in rural Cambodia; and 30,000 insecticide-treated mosquito nets, reducing malaria in target areas in Africa by 70%. Since 1997, The FAWCO Foundation has made over $450,000 in development grants in 80 countries to support over 130 projects including building classrooms, paying salaries for teachers and nurses, buying educational materials, constructing water pumps, installing solar panels, renovating health clinics, purchasing project equipment, and funding workshops and training.
In addition to ECOSOC involvement, FAWCO works with the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Greece and has Observer status at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).