2024 in Review

How do you keep dreaming when your independence is taken away from you? When life pushes you in a direction you never wished for? 

Sadly, many adolescent girls, especially in conflict-affected regions, face extreme poverty, gender-based violence and limited access to education. The teenage girls taking part in our new Adolescent Girls Programme dare to transform their lives against the odds.

In the West Bank, we partnered with six women’s rights organisations to support women facing violence, food insecurity and unemployment, providing vocational training, counselling, community sessions, a helpline and funding for the only women’s shelter. Since 7th October 2023, we’ve delivered urgent aid in the West Bank and Gaza, including meals, winter essentials, hygiene kits and counselling. Partnering with an Israeli organisation, we offered shelters for Palestinian and Jewish Israeli women survivors. Since 2023, we’ve reached over 27,000 people.

Thanks to funds raised by players of People’s Postcode Lottery, £2,875,000 awarded by Postcode Justice Trust has been invaluable to us since the partnership began in 2017. In 2024 funding raised by players has supported 1,350 women in Iraq to enrol in our Stronger Women, Stronger Nations programme. They also supported our work in a range of areas across our global organisation including the adaption and expansion of our programming to reach adolescent girls between the ages of 16 and 17, our Global Policy and Advocacy work, our global communications work and strengthening our approach to partnerships.

This June, we celebrated World Refugee Week with our Serving Up Sisterhood campaign, demonstrating the power of food to unite communities, celebrate diverse cultures and tie us to the places we call home. While the women we serve shared the recipes that are most important to them, Women for Women International Country Directors in Iraq and Afghanistan, Aram Shakerm and Payvand Seyedali, joined us for a webinar to discuss the compounding issues of conflict and displacement.

96% of the 6,500 women we consulted in conflict zones reported facing some kind of violence. (Source: From Asking to Action)

From 25th November (International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women) until 10th December (Human Rights Day), you joined us to raise awareness of and help prevent violence against women and girls. Women dare to fight for their rights when they're on the line - thank you for standing with them. 

In partnership with Baghdad Women’s Association (BWA) in Iraq and Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC) in Nigeria, we developed two new research reports based on surveys, focus group discussions and interviews with individual women and women's rights organisations. 

The findings, launched at the 68th Commission on the Status of Women and subsequently in Nigeria and Iraq, illustrate how interconnected political, legal, social and economic challenges create or entrench barriers to women’s participation at the household, community and civic levels.  

At the United Nations' Summit of the Future, we launched our consultation, From Asking to Action: a global consultation ensuring the voices of women affected by conflict are heard. For this consultation, we spoke to over 6,500 women in more than 14 conflict-affected countries to ensure their voices are heard and prioritised in high-level decision-making spaces.

The findings will be leveraged across our advocacy in 2025 including at the 69th Commission on the Status of Women in March and the 25th anniversary of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda in October. 

Throughout 2024, our Ambassadors used their platforms to raise awareness and vital funds for the women we serve. While Waad Al-Kateab and Basma Khalifa shared powerful stories at the We Dare To Dream film screening, Gillian Anderson showed her solidarity by donating proceeds from her best-selling book ‘Want’ to our work. Meanwhile, Alex Eagle and the Car Boot Sale Committee took the #SheInspiresMe Car Boot Sale to the next level, making it even bigger and better than ever before!  

In September, 10 women embarked on an 11-day kayaking expedition in the Svalbard Archipelago, aiming to cover 125 km and raise funds for women survivors of war. Extreme weather caused irreversible damage to their gear, forcing them to abort after 10 hours in a storm. The rescue operation took 8 hours and depended on the women’s strength, spirit, courage and resilience – the power of sisterhood in action! Undeterred by their setback, the team are returning to the Arctic in June 2025 to complete the expedition!

Since 2012, Women on a Mission have raised over $660,000 for women survivors of war through their expeditions.

This year, our partners have truly elevated our mission. Jimmy Choo took our partnership to a global level, uplifting their commitment to women, whilst supporting key events such as a film screening of We Dare to Dream in LA, a Hamptons event hosted by a board member, our annual #SheInspiresMe Car Boot Sale and an exclusive London lunch with Ambassador Alex Eagle. Charlotte Tilbury Beauty maintained their unwavering support for women, once again donating proceeds from their holiday stockings and expanding their presence at the #SheInspiresMe Car Boot Sale. ME+EM also made a major impact, contributing significantly through their March sample sale and running a much-anticipated sell-out boot at the Car Boot Sale.

In June, we marked World Refugee Week, a time to shine a light on the courage, strength and hope of displaced people around the world. We hosted a very special screening of award-winning director Waad al-Kateab’s film. We Dare to Dream is the story of the Tokyo Olympic Refugee team - refugee athletes from Iran, Syria, South Sudan and Cameroon who swim, run and fight their way to opportunity and safety in host nations across the world. The screening was followed by a conversation with Waad, Syrian refugee Wael Fawaz Al-Farraj and chaired by Basma Khalifa.