Who we are

The Karen Women’s Organisation (KWO) was formed in 1949 and re-organised in 1985. Currently KWO has a membership of more than 70,000 women living in Karen State, Burma and in refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border. KWO is a leading indigenous women’s organisation working in protection and our programs directly serve women, girls, children, and the most vulnerable people in our community. We promote women’s leadership, gender sensitivity and community ownership in all aspects of our work. KWO is active in four main sectors: Organising and Information Sharing Program, Education Program, Health Program and Social Welfare Program.

KWO participates in the struggle to stop all kinds of oppression of women and of children and provides support for communities in the Thai-Burma border and in Karen State, Burma.

Vision

In a federal Burma, all communities have gender equality, the protection and promotion of indigenous people’s rights, human rights, and justice.

Mission

KWO is an ethnic women’s community-based organisation that empowers women so they have capacity and power to solve their own problems and participate in decision-making that will affect their lives.

KWO participates in the struggle to stop all kinds of oppression of women and of children and provides support for communities in the Thai-Burma border and in Karen State, Burma.

Our Goals

1. Ensure that KWO is an organisation which is strong, sustainable, effective and healthy.
2. Karen women are free from any kind of oppression and enjoy an adequate standard of living.
3. Karen women have gender equality in all spheres of life at all levels.
4. Karen women are encouraged to participate in political leadership at different levels and work together to achieve federalism.
5. In our community, our people, especially women and children, can practice and enjoy full indigenous rights.

What we do

KWO delivers work under 4 Programs, the 4 programs are: Organising and Information Sharing, Education, Health, and Social Welfare. Work under these programs includes: service delivery, advocacy, awareness raising, and capacity building which are threaded throughout our projects. From delivery of baby kits with community health and nutrition education, to ensuring safe accommodation for women while developing Women’s Protection Laws, to developing young women from our Communities to become leaders and offering human rights training to a variety of stakeholders, and beyond.

KWO believes that empowering women will help reduce human rights abuses and encourage an end to discrimination against women. We believe that women have a right to be properly represented in politics and society at large. And we believe that the whole community is better off when women play an equal role with men in decision-making. The 17 individually funded Projects which KWO currently implements in refugee camps and Karen State, run under our 4 programs, and have over 100,500 beneficiaries.

Where we work

KWO lives and works in the 7 districts of Karen State, Burma, and in 7 refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border.

The seven Districts where KWO works in Karen State are:

1. Doo Tha Htu
2. Taw Oo
3. Kler Lwee Htu
4. Bli/Dweh
5. Mutraw
6. Doo Pla Ya
7. Pa An

The seven Refugee Camps where KWO works are:

1. Mae La Oo
2. Mae Ra Moe
3. Mae La
4. Umphiem
5. Noh Poe
6. Htam Hin
7. Ban Dong Yang