Our History
CAWN was set up in July 1991 following a conference: ‘Breaking Chains - making Links’ organised by women's sections of the Central America solidarity and human rights committees - as a coordinating group to have a regional perspective. It did not aim to replace the committees but enhance their work.
CAWN grew out of the solidarity movement. A few women who were active in these groups and who had lived or visited the region felt it was important to highlight women's rights issues, and a group of current co-directors started meeting on an informal basis in the offices of the Central America Human Rights Committee.
In March of 1992 a second conference was organised "As long as it takes" celebrating 500 years of women's resistance in Central America, as part of the commemorations of 500 years of popular, black and indigenous resistance.
CAWN started producing a bulletin to keep the group informed of events and developments in the region. Several years after, a successful fundraising effort allowed CAWN to set up an office and employed the first Co-ordinator for a project working on the first project on Maquilas in the UK (around 1994).
Since then CAWN has organised speaker tours hosting a variety of women activist form Central America involved in the struggle to challenge inequality in their countries
CAWN has published research, related to labour rights, codes of conduct and gender-based violence.