International Council of Women
Professional services
UnclaimedThe International Council of Women is a transnational federation of national women's councils that advocates for women's human rights and represents civil-society perspectives in international institutions.
Last updated October 14, 2026
AI crawler reads
No AI crawler has read this profile yet.
Overview
The International Council of Women (ICW) is an international women's organization established in 1888 to connect national women's councils and advance shared concerns across national borders. Its origins lie in discussions held by American suffrage leaders Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony during a European visit in 1882. They proposed a permanent international structure through which women involved in reform, education, professional life, trade unions, the arts, and charitable work could exchange information and coordinate action. The National Woman Suffrage Association subsequently organized the founding gathering in Washington, D.C., which opened on March 25, 1888, as part of the fortieth-anniversary commemorations of the Seneca Falls women's rights convention. The meeting brought together 80 speakers and 49 delegates connected with 53 organizations from nine countries. Rachel Foster Avery handled much of the event's practical organization, while Susan B. Anthony chaired eight of its sixteen sessions. The founding body adopted a constitution and established a system of recurring national and international meetings. Although Millicent Garrett Fawcett was elected the first president, she declined the office. The council's early model emphasized cooperation among national organizations rather than a single centralized membership structure. National councils could affiliate with the ICW and use the international federation to make their concerns visible beyond their home countries. During its first decades, the organization was supported substantially by members and organizations in the United States, and its meetings were concentrated in Europe and North America. Its use of English, French, and German as official languages reflected the institutional practices of the period but also limited participation by women outside Europe and North America. The ICW initially avoided making women's suffrage its central public demand in order to preserve cooperation with more conservative members. From 1899 onward, however, its standing committees addressed increasingly substantive questions, including peace, international arbitration, suffrage, health, nationality, and women's participation in public life. The creation of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance at the 1904 Berlin congress provided a separate platform for national suffrage organizations seeking a more explicitly feminist and suffrage-centered international body. The ICW developed working relationships with the League of Nations during the interwar period. In 1925 it helped establish the Joint Standing Committee of the Women's International Organisations to lobby for women's appointment to League bodies. In 1931, the League convened a Women's Consultative Committee on Nationality, addressing the consequences for a woman's legal nationality when she married a man from another country. The ICW also participated in liaison, peace, and disarmament structures, and revised its constitution in 1936. By 1938, 36 national councils were affiliated, making the organization one of the best-known and most consulted international women's associations of its era. The Second World War severely disrupted the federation. Some national councils ceased operating, while others lost leaders or organizational continuity. The 1946 Philadelphia meeting sought to restore unity and redirect the organization's work after the war. Its declaration condemned war and crimes against humanity and called for women to play a stronger role in national and international decision-making. From 1947, the ICW held consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, a status that enables nongovernmental organizations to contribute to UN discussions and processes. The organization also maintains relationships with other UN and multilateral bodies, including agencies concerned with labor, food and agriculture, health, development, the environment, education, children, trade, and industrial development. The modern ICW operates as a federation of national councils, with headquarters in Paris and international meetings generally held every three years. Its documented congress locations include Washington, Berlin, London, Toronto, Rome, Kristiania, Vienna, Chicago, Kolkata, Philadelphia, Kyiv, Johannesburg, Seoul, Izmir, Yogyakarta, and Avignon. Its historical records are distributed among major research and institutional archives, including The Women's Library in London, the United Nations Library in Geneva, the Library of Congress, UNESCO archives in Paris, the International Information Centre and Archives for the Women's Movement in Amsterdam, and several university and specialist collections. The ICW's principal role today is representative and advocacy-oriented: it gives national women's councils a channel for international cooperation, policy engagement, and participation in the human-rights system.
History
The International Council of Women was conceived in the context of the expanding nineteenth-century women's rights movement. During a European visit in 1882, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony discussed the need for an organization that could connect women reformers from different countries. A correspondence committee was subsequently developed, and the National Woman Suffrage Association organized the founding congress in Washington, D.C., in March 1888. The meeting coincided with the fortieth anniversary of the Seneca Falls Convention and included representatives associated with dozens of organizations from North America, Europe, and Asia. Rachel Foster Avery coordinated much of the practical preparation, and Anthony chaired half of the sessions. The new council was designed as a federation rather than a centralized membership association. It sought to bring together national councils and organizations representing professional women, workers, educators, artists, reformers, and charitable institutions. Its constitution provided for recurring meetings and a continuing international structure. Millicent Garrett Fawcett was elected as the first president but declined to serve. The organization therefore began its work through a collective international framework rather than around a single permanent founding leader. In its early phase, the ICW concentrated on building a durable network. Financial support from the United States was important, and meetings were generally held in Europe and North America. The council operated in English, French, and German, which helped its established members communicate but also reflected the Euro-American bias of the period and created barriers for women from other regions. The organization deliberately did not make women's suffrage its sole or immediate public priority because it wanted to retain cooperation among members with different political positions. This approach distinguished it from the more explicitly suffragist International Woman Suffrage Alliance, which emerged from the 1904 Berlin congress. The council's work became more policy-oriented at the end of the nineteenth century. In 1899 it created a standing committee on peace and international arbitration, and other committees followed. Through these structures, the ICW addressed suffrage, health, peace, disarmament, women's nationality, and women's participation in public affairs. Its congresses were held in Berlin in 1894 and 1904, London in 1899, Toronto in 1909, Rome in 1914, Kristiania in 1920, Washington in 1925, Vienna in 1930, Chicago in 1933, and Kolkata in 1936, where the meeting was jointly organized with the National Council of Women in India. After the First World War, the ICW expanded its engagement with international governance. In 1925 it brought together the Joint Standing Committee of the Women's International Organisations to advocate for women's representation within the League of Nations. In 1931, the League's Women's Consultative Committee on Nationality examined the effect of marriage on women's legal nationality, an issue with direct consequences for civil status and rights. The ICW also supported liaison, peace, and disarmament cooperation and revised its constitution in 1936. By 1938, 36 national councils were affiliated with the organization. The Second World War caused extensive disruption. Some national councils stopped functioning, while others experienced the loss or displacement of leaders and administrative structures. The 1946 Philadelphia conference was a recovery point. Delegates sought to re-establish international unity and issued a declaration condemning war and crimes against humanity, while demanding a more substantial role for women in national and international affairs. In 1947 the ICW received consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council. It subsequently maintained consultative relationships with a range of UN bodies, including organizations concerned with labor, agriculture, health, development, the environment, education, children, trade, and industrial development. In the contemporary period, the ICW continues to function as a federation of national councils. The organization reports participation spanning approximately 70 countries and maintains headquarters in Paris. Its international meetings are generally organized every three years, with documented postwar and modern locations including Philadelphia, Kyiv, Johannesburg, Seoul, Izmir, Yogyakarta, and Avignon. The council's role is primarily representative, educational, and advocacy-based rather than commercial. It gives national women's organizations an international platform, supports discussion of women's human rights and related social policy, and participates in the consultative processes of international institutions. Its historical importance is also preserved through archival collections held by The Women's Library, UN and UNESCO repositories, the Library of Congress, university libraries, and specialist women's-history archives.
- 2022
International meeting held in Avignon
[1]Avignon was the latest international meeting location identified in the supplied historical record.
- 1947
ECOSOC consultative status obtained
[1]The ICW received consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
- 1946
Postwar reconstruction conference in Philadelphia
[1]The council met to restore unity after wartime disruption and adopted a statement condemning war and crimes against humanity.
- 1938
Affiliation network reaches 36 councils
[1]The ICW had developed into a widely consulted international women's organization with 36 affiliated national councils.
- 1931
Women's nationality issue addressed internationally
[1]The League of Nations established a Women's Consultative Committee on Nationality with ICW involvement.
- 1925
Women's international coalition convened
[1]The ICW convened the Joint Standing Committee of the Women's International Organisations to advocate for women within the League of Nations.
- 1904
International Woman Suffrage Alliance formed
[1]A distinct suffrage organization was established during the ICW congress in Berlin.
- 1899
Peace and arbitration committee established
[1]The council began formal standing-committee work on peace and international arbitration, broadening its policy role.
- 1888
Founding congress in Washington, D.C.
[1]The National Woman Suffrage Association convened the founding meeting of the International Council of Women on March 25, creating a constitution and an international federation model.
- 1882
International organization proposed by Stanton and Anthony
[1]Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony discussed the creation of an international women's organization during a European visit, leading to a correspondence effort among reformers.
Products and positioning
A long-established, nonpartisan international federation that links national women's councils and channels women's rights advocacy into intergovernmental institutions.
Marketing campaigns
- 1946Postwar peace and human-rights statement
International
At its Philadelphia recovery conference, the ICW condemned war and crimes against humanity and called for a stronger role for women in public decision-making.
Outcome. The statement helped define the council's postwar emphasis on peace, human rights, and women's participation.
- 1931Women's nationality advocacy
International · League of Nations
The council participated in international advocacy and consultation concerning the nationality status of women married to men from another country.
Outcome. The issue was taken up by the League of Nations Women's Consultative Committee on Nationality.
- 1925Joint Standing Committee of the Women's International Organisations
League of Nations member states · International
The ICW convened a coalition of women's organizations to coordinate lobbying for women's appointment to League of Nations bodies and to strengthen women's influence in international governance.
Outcome. The coalition created a formal collaborative mechanism for women's organizations to engage with the League of Nations.
Brand decisions
1946
Rebuilt international operations after World War IIStrategyBackground
The war had interrupted congresses and weakened or displaced several national councils and their leadership.
Action taken
The Philadelphia conference focused on restoring unity and reaffirmed the council's opposition to war and crimes against humanity.
Aftermath
The organization resumed international work and soon formalized its relationship with the United Nations.
1904
Allowed a separate suffrage organization to emergeStrategyBackground
National suffrage associations wanted an organization with a more concentrated feminist and suffrage identity than the broad ICW coalition.
Action taken
The International Woman Suffrage Alliance was formed during the ICW's Berlin congress.
Aftermath
The two bodies occupied related but distinct roles within the international women's movement.
1899
Expanded into standing-committee policy workStrategyBackground
The council was moving from a primarily connective role toward sustained work on international social and political issues.
Action taken
It established a standing committee on peace and international arbitration and subsequently added committees in other fields.
Aftermath
The committee system allowed the ICW to address peace, suffrage, health, nationality, and related questions over time.
1888
Adopted a federation of national councilsStrategyBackground
The founding congress sought to unite organizations with different national, professional, religious, and political backgrounds.
Action taken
The ICW adopted a constitution based on affiliated national councils and recurring international meetings.
Aftermath
This structure became the basis for the council's continuing transnational network.
Recent events
Sources3 sources
Cite this profile: Cite the canonical profile. /brand-wiki/international-council-of-women · Editorial policy · How profiles are compiled