WfWI helps such women rebuild their lives after war's devastation through a year-long tiered program that begins with direct financial aid and emotional counseling and includes life skills (e.g., literacy, numeracy) training if necessary, rights awareness education, health education, job skills training and small business development.

[1] They were motivated to act after learning of the plight of women in rape camps during the Yugoslav Wars and the slow response of the international community.

[6] Headquartered in Washington, DC, WfWI also has executive/fundraising offices in London, UK[7] and Hamburg, Germany[8] and programmatic offices in eight post-conflict countries: Afghanistan (program inception 2002);[9] Bosnia and Herzegovina (1994);[citation needed] Democratic Republic of Congo (2004);[10][11] Iraq (2003);[12] Kosovo (1999);[13][14] Nigeria (2000);[15] Rwanda (1997);[16] and South Sudan (2006).

[19] Amartya Sen, Nobel Laureate and Hilton Prize juror also commented on the selection saying women of war is a neglected issue and WfWI has identified the need and has gone on to protect millions of lives.

The participants enroll in a one-year program designed to help them gain the skills, confidence, psychological healing, and mutual support needed to rebuild their lives after war.