YWCA Ireland empowers women across Ireland to be engaged, connected, transformed, and equipped to lead and bring about change through Christ. We do this through the following activities:

  • Providing welcoming and community orientated spaces for women;

  • Advocating for gender justice;

  • Equipping and supporting young women in every sphere of leadership;

  • Encouraging young women to transform their communities;

  • Building national and international collaborative networks of Christian women leaders.

YWCA Ireland’s activities create safe spaces where women are valued, supported, and encouraged to lead and bring about change.  Research shows that women in Ireland remain underrepresented in key leadership roles, experience high levels of violence both inside and outside the home, and continue to be affected by systems, structures, and attitudes that limit their potential. YWCA Ireland is a leading Christian voice in Ireland, advocating with and for women so they can become all God created them to be.

Providing welcoming and community orientated spaces for women

YWCA Ireland operates a local community centre in the heart of Monaghan town and this centre is well-used by the general public as a safe space to host meetings and activities. In line with our vision to empower girls and women, we work with community organisations and individuals to provide access to mental health support, raise awareness about women’s health issues and assist women in gaining skills, confidence and agency.

Advocating for gender justice

YWCA Ireland remains committed to advocating with and for women on gender justice issues. As Ireland’s oldest faith-based movement focused on girls and young women, we believe we are uniquely placed to offer a Christian voice on gender justice and look forward to strengthening our voice and profile through our future strategic plan.

YWCA Ireland is a member of the National Women’s Council Ireland (NWCI) and has increased its presence and participation this year. We are also delighted that one of our members is serving on the NWC Young People’s Panel. YWCA Ireland is part of the Irish National Observatory on Violence Against Women, alongside 21 other national and grassroots women’s organisations. As one of the only faith-based organisations in the Observatory, YWCA Ireland believes faith-based organisations, including churches, have a vital role in advocating for zero tolerance of all forms of violence against women and girls.

25 November is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and Girls and the start of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence. Each year, YWCA Ireland invites members and friends to pray for girls and women in Ireland and around the world. Each day, YWCA Ireland uploaded a fact and prayer request across our social media channels. It is estimated that 1 in 4 women in Ireland who have been in a relationship have been abused by a partner. Violence against women and girls encompasses, but is not limited to, physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring in the family or within the general community. This is not what God intended for His people and it is important as an organization that we mobilise members, partners and friends to pray for transformation of communities, restoration of relationships and justice for survivors. YWCA Ireland also participates in World YWCA’s annual #WeekWithoutViolence and is proud to join World YWCA in its fight for a safer, more inclusive world.

Equipping and supporting young women in every sphere of leadership;

YWCA is passionate about enabling young women to step into leadership in all spheres of society with confidence, compentance and courage. YWCA Ireland is looking forward to launching its own leadership initiatives soon but in the interim, it has been sponsoring young women to access good quality and life-transforming equipping programmes. 

Since 2024, YWCA Ireland has financially sponsored young women leaders in Ireland to participate in the Kyria Collab leadership programme. This is an exclusive gathering of exceptional young female leaders aged 18-25 from various denominations and spheres of influence across the UK and Ireland.  

Through our involvement in Kyria Network NI, we’ve also assisted in leading and sponsoring other initiatives for more experienced leaders including day retreats for senior women leaders in October 2025 and June 2026.

We also provided sponsored places for 18-25s young women to access equipping conferences like Kyria NI and Unshamed.

Championing young women to transform their communities

As part of the Board’s interim strategic plan, YWCA Ireland is launching a new ‘Grab A Grand’ initiative in 2026 to encourage young women to use their skills, gifts and knowledge to transform their communities. The scheme will provide 1000 EUR grants to 10 young women in Ireland to use to develop specific projects that will make a positive impact to the lives of girls and young women. 

More details will be announced on this website soon.

Building national and international collaborative networks of Christian women leaders

YWCA Ireland is passionate about building local, national and international collaborative networks of Christian women leaders. In Ireland, we’re helping to lead a leadHER - a support network for senior Christian women leaders who are leading charities and ministries focussed on empowering girls and women.

As a member of a global movement, we passionate about being an active member of European YWCA and World YWCA. In May 2026, we attended the European YWCA General Assembly in Helsinki and our CEO was elected to serve on the European YWCA Board.

We’re also a leading member of the Hope 4 Europe - Women in Leadership initiative and our CEO will be delivering one of the keynote sessions at the Rise in Strength Consultation in Cairo in November 2026.