International Alliance of Women

The International Alliance of Women (IAW; French:Alliance Internationale des Femmes, AIF) is an international non-governmental organization that works to promote women's human rights around the world, focusing particularly on empowerment of women and development issues and more broadly on gender equality. The basic principle of the IAW is that the full and equal enjoyment of human rights is due to all women and girls. It is one of the oldest, largest and most influential organizations in its field. The organization was founded in 1904 in Berlin by Carrie Chapman Catt, Millicent Fawcett and other leading feminists to campaign for women's suffrage. Originally named the International Woman Suffrage Alliance (IWSA) and headquartered in London, it was the preeminent international women's suffrage organization. Its emphasis has since shifted to a broad human rights focus. Today it represents over 50 organizations world-wide comprising several hundred thousand members, and has its seat in Geneva.l