NETRIGHT was founded in 1999 by a group of individuals and organisations interested in promoting women’s rights in all national processes. It was a response to a number of identified gaps in the approach of civil society organizations working in women’s rights issues. Such gaps included the lack of a collective approach to working on national and regional processes; an under emphasis of the political and power relational issues in the gender and development work; the absence of space for debate and discussion to come to a clear understanding of women’s positions on their rights and other national issues; and the inability to respond to critical issues partly due to lack of effective engagement with national institutions on women and policy making.

In response to these gaps the orientation of NETRIGHT is clearly one that emphasizes:

  • a strong human rights perspective
  • the political and power relational issues in the gender and development work
  • the importance of advocacy and mobilisation and therefore aims for the broadest possible representation in our membership
  • a secular approach to our work
  • non-partisanship alliance and/or participation