Our Work Across Northern Ireland, the Island of Ireland & Beyond
As The Women’s Organisation in Northern Ireland, we work locally, on a cross-border basis and across the island of Ireland co-developing innovative solutions with partners that drive change and improve outcomes for women.
We collaborate with organisations including Northern Ireland Rural Women’s Network, Derry Well Woman, and Community Foundation for Northern Ireland to design approaches that address deep-rooted inequalities in women’s health, economic participation, and workplace inclusion. This work turns real-life experiences into repeatable models and practical steps that help shape regional and national policies.
A Cross-Border and All-Island Approach
Our cross-border and all-island approach is central to how we work. Together with Enterprise Evolution, we work with partners to create programmes that respond to shared challenges across areas. This is how we ensure that frameworks are created that can operate across different policy and service environments.
This partnership also connects our work to European and international innovation networks. Through programmes such as EPIC-X (Horizon Europe), we advance investment and support for women in deep tech. This includes ensuring that funding models, accelerator programmes, and ecosystem design reflect the realities faced by women founders. Our role involves generating insight from female founders and embedding this into programme design and wider policy discussions.
We also contribute to programmes such as Women 5.0, which address structural gaps in digital and entrepreneurial skills. By supporting women to engage with emerging areas such as AI, data, and financial innovation, the project builds towards inclusive participation in future economies.
Developing and Testing Scalable Models
Alongside our international work, we co-develop and test scalable, system-focused models, including:
Community Advocates for Women’s Workplace Wellness (CAWWW): A peer-led advocacy model that strengthens women’s health literacy, addresses stigma, and supports the integration of workplace wellbeing practices. The model has clear potential for wider adoption across different sectors and regions.
Connect Fund – HerHealth Collective: This East-West women’s health learning and exchange initiative was co-developed with the Northern Ireland Rural Women’s Network and partners. Now in its second phase, the project is led directly from Northern Ireland. This initiative brings together women, community organisations, health practitioners, and policymakers to inform system design.
We hold partnership-based sessions, targeted insight-gathering, and joint learning workshops with system stakeholders. Through these activities, we connect lived experience directly to policy and service development. A key output is a concise, action-focused recommendations briefing. This document links women’s real experiences to priorities such as digital inclusion, access to care, and the roll-out of women’s health strategies.
This work also contributes to the development of a long-term cross-region Women’s Health Collaborative creating a practical model for ongoing learning, partnership, and influence beyond individual projects.
A Systems Approach to Change
Across all of this work we connect systems by bringing together evidence, partners, and institutions to create solutions that can be embedded effectively. By working across-borders, we ensure that innovation is grounded in true experience. We work to ensure women’s voices actively shape policy, investment, and system reform at every level.
The Women’s Organisation Northern Ireland Office
Based at 55-59 Adelaide Street, The Women’s Organisation Belfast operates from the heart of the city’s business district.
Find Us:
55-59 Adelaide Street, Belfast, BT2 8FE
Call us: +44 (0) 2896020165
Email us: hello@thewo.org.uk
All-Ireland Gallery: Moments of Impact
