How does the Network function?

Currently, the Women’s Development Network is made up of 1,401 grassroots groups, 162 organizations, and 23 individuals.

The only “cost” for participation in the Network is a willingness to share with other groups in the Network, responding to the groups that request the information, ideas, experiences, advice, materials, or other resources that your group or organization has offered to share.

The Coordinating Team of the Network, located in San José, Costa Rica, facilitates communication and interchange among the participating groups and organizations. Its role is to put the needs in contact with the available resources. For example:

• A group of women in Ecuador, seeking information about how to start and administer Communal Banks, consulted the Network Coordinating Team and was put in contact with an organization in Perú, with experience in the field, who sent them the information and materials that allowed them (within 6 months) to open their first Communal Bank.
• A group of women in Peru that wanted to start a micro enterprise producing cider vinegar asked for and received a recipe for industrial quantities of vinegar using household equipment, with which they were able to start their business.
• A group of women in El Salvador took advantage of information that they received in the Network Newsletter to request and receive a donation with which they set up a productive project growing and processing medicinal plants.
• A group of women in Guatemala shared their formula for organic fertilizer through the Network Newsletter, and it was used by a grassroots women’s organization in Honduras to set up 200  boxes producing organic fertilizer with worms.
• Groups and organizations have received scholarships or subsidies to participate in courses, conferences, and workshops in other countries, as well as the professional services of volunteers, thanks to the information shared through the Network.  

Participating groups and organizations in the Network receive a quarterly newsletter that contains stories about the productive experiences of the groups, articles on various aspects of women’s economic and integral development, practical ideas for micro enterprises, techniques related to the startup and administration of micro enterprises, contact information for participating groups and organizations, and opportunities for collaboration, among other things.

Besides  the Newsletter, the Coordinating Team maintains a “Data Bank” and directories that Network groups can consult to find out who to contact to get the information, advice, ideas, or other resources they need for their projects.