Feminists, who believe that information should be organised and disseminated in ways that were far more accessible to women, founded Isis International in 1974 in Rome, Italy. The founders named the organisation after the Egyptian goddess Isis whose attributes–wisdom, creativity and knowledge–remain the organisation’s credo as it proceeds into its fourth decade of existence.

The organisation’s thrust was based on assisting Southern women build their capacities to network and communicate, believing that they need more support to participate actively in development processes.

Its first offices were located in Rome, Italy and Geneva, Switzerland. In 1984, Isis International opened an office in Santiago, Chile to coordinate its Latin American and Caribbean programmes. In 1991 the office in Rome moved to Manila to be closer to its constituency of Asian, African and Pacific regions. Later in 1994, the Geneva office, called the Isis-Women’s International Cross- Cultural Exchange Programme (WICCE), moved to Kampala, Uganda.

Today, Isis women remain resilient and engaged in pursuing the very same mission that gave birth to the organisation, creatively embarking on new challenges along with a critical mass of like-minded women’s communication activists all over the world doing various forms of women’s information and communication work.

Isis International-Manila is fortunate to be located in a comfortable space that belongs to the organisation, more stable after several years of transition and flux as an international organisation but with a strong Asia-Pacific focus. We believe Isis International-Manila may have changed in its form and structure over the years, but not in its political essence and mandate.