Friends of PWC connects U.S. donors and partners with the Pastoral Women’s Council, an Indigenous women-led organization advancing girls’ education, women’s economic opportunity, rights and leadership, land and water security, and climate resilience across pastoralist communities in northern Tanzania.
For nearly three decades, PWC has worked alongside pastoralist women, girls and communities to expand opportunity, strengthen rights and leadership, protect livelihoods, and build resilience for the future.
PWC addresses the interconnected barriers facing pastoralist women and girls through four mutually reinforcing areas of work.
Supporting women to build livelihoods, savings, businesses and greater economic independence.
Helping girls enter, remain and succeed in school while addressing the barriers that limit their opportunities.
Strengthening women’s rights, voice and participation in household, community and government decision-making.
Supporting locally led solutions that protect land, water, livelihoods and pastoralist communities in a changing climate.
Climate change is intensifying drought, water scarcity and pressure on grazing lands across northern Tanzania, directly affecting pastoralist livelihoods, food security and family wellbeing. PWC supports women and communities to strengthen water security, protect land and natural resources, diversify livelihoods, restore rangelands and develop locally led strategies for climate adaptation.
Women are not only experiencing the effects of climate change. They are helping design the solutions.
Pastoral Women’s Council is an independent, Indigenous women-led Tanzanian organization that designs and leads its programs in partnership with the communities it serves.
Friends of PWC is a U.S.-based nonprofit that mobilizes funding, relationships and visibility in support of PWC’s locally led mission.
Strategy and program leadership are driven by PWC in Tanzania, while Friends of PWC connects U.S. supporters directly to that work.
Founded by Maasai women and rooted in northern Tanzania for nearly three decades, PWC combines deep local knowledge and trust with a proven ability to turn resources into lasting change. Women are securing land, building livelihoods, educating their daughters, participating in public decision-making and leading community responses to climate change.
PWC’s strength lies in who leads the work: the women closest to the challenges and the solutions. Lasting change is strongest when communities lead it themselves.
