IDRC - Women's Citizenship and Governance

The Women’s Rights and Citizenship (WRC) program was launched in 2006 to support applied research in the field of women’s rights, citizenship and development. The WRC program contributes to bringing Southern voices into current debates in the international gender and development field. The WRC vision is that of a just world where women in the South have a sense of self that includes citizenship and the right to have rights; where all individuals have equitable access to justice and the opportunity to participate meaningfully in democratic decision-making; and where there is no discrimination based on gender in realizing the full range of one’s rights and freedoms... In order to contribute to this broad vision, the WRC’s mission is to support research on women’s rights and citizenship that uses gender and social analysis and focuses on the needs of poor and marginalized women in the South; that utilizes methodologies that are empowering to participants; and that engages meaningfully with decision-makers and policy debates, with a view to effecting change.