Born from witnessing aid become abuse. Built so it never happens again.
A world where no woman is defined by her suffering.
Where she lives free from humiliation, poverty and abuse. Her safety never left to circumstance, her dignity never negotiable.
To stand where others turn away.
Safe Aid delivered by women, for women, without fear or coercion. Independence rebuilt. Silenced voices raised, and heard.
During the Syrian war, our team saw women coerced into trading their bodies for food and safety. Bombs fell, hospitals collapsed, and help came with conditions. We had set out to build a women-only hospital in Aleppo, but as the war escalated, it became impossible. And a harder truth emerged: it wasn’t only Syrian women who needed protection. It was women everywhere, living under the weight of poverty, conflict and coercion. We refused to stand by.
Forgotten Women was registered with one mission: to deliver aid that protects, not preys. Our first Safe Aid delivery reached Syrian women on the Turkey-Syria border. Since then, we’ve carried that mission across Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria, Gaza, Malawi, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Somalia and the UK, reaching the women the world forgets first. Every box, every business, every voice carries one message: no woman should choose between her dignity and her survival.
Delivered by women, for women. Relief that reaches those in need without abuse, manipulation, or fear. It directly combats “sex for aid” and restores trust where aid once caused harm.
Our LIFT model turns donations into independence, not dependency. We sit with each woman, build a business around her skills, and provide the training and capital to run it, so she earns from day one.
We are the voice for those who have been silenced. By raising awareness and challenging systemic abuse, we ensure the stories of vulnerable women are never ignored.
These are the three areas where a woman’s vulnerability is most exposed, and where protection matters most. Our work has reached Malawi, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Yemen, Afghanistan, Syria, Gaza, Somalia and the UK, delivering aid to the hardest-to-reach places, and the opportunities that free women from poverty for good. Because charity shouldn’t keep a woman surviving. It should help her thrive.
A Model Born from Dignity, Not Dependency.
Most charity feeds need but rarely ends it. Food, medicine and shelter ease suffering for a moment, but month after month, the same women remain dependent on donations just to survive. It’s a cycle that drains dignity and fuels dependency, for the women receiving aid and the donors sustaining it. We knew there had to be a better way.
That’s why we built LIFT (Leveraging Investment For Transformation), a model that turns donations into investments, and investments into lasting independence.
LIFT rests on three principles: tackle root causes, not symptoms; create long-term impact, not short-term relief; and generate income immediately, because hunger can’t wait. We invest in women because the evidence is clear: a woman reinvests up to 90% of her income back into her family and community.
Every project begins with a conversation, not a template. We sit with each woman, listen to her story, and build a business plan around her skills and her market. Then we provide the training, equipment and startup capital, walking alongside her as she learns, grows and earns.
Every donation becomes a business. Every business becomes a lifeline. Every woman becomes a leader.
LIFT has been delivered across Somalia, Malawi, Pakistan and Bangladesh, with women earning income from day one. In Somalia, women received fully stocked retail kiosks placed near their homes for safety, each around £1,000 to establish, generating income immediately. Within six months, many had expanded their stock, grown their sales, and begun employing others: beneficiaries turned business owners. These aren’t short-term fixes. They’re long-term transformations built on dignity, not dependency.
We are not just a charity. We are a movement of women refusing to look away. Because aid that costs a woman her dignity isn’t aid at all. It’s exploitation, and we exist to end it. Wherever women are forgotten, we remember them first.
Together we can build lasting change, and hope, for women worldwide. Your support makes transformation possible.
