Astrid Aafjes is the founder and Executive Director of Women Win. After she graduated from Law School in 1994 she lived in the USA, Cambodia, China and the Netherlands where she worked both for large international (UN) organizations and local human rights organizations.
In Washington DC, she worked with UNHCR as a resettlement officer. In Cambodia, Astrid worked with Licadho, a local human rights organization in Cambodia. She was responsible for the new Gender Department and traveled to the 4th World Conference on Women in Beijing. Also in Cambodia, she headed a national research project for UNDP around micro credit program for women.
Back in Washington DC, she joined Women, Law and Development International and directly worked with the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women on her report for the Commission on Human Rights. In China, Astrid worked for the Royal Dutch Embassy in the Development Cooperation Department on poverty reduction programs in China and Mongolia. After seven years of field experience, she joined the Clara Wichmann Institute, an advocacy & legal research institute for Women and Law based in the Netherlands. Astrid joined Mama Cash the first international women´s fund in 2002 as the Program Director. Throughout her career and academic study Astrid focused on gender and human right and has gained extensive experience on building a strong innovative and sustainable women´s fund with a core business of raising funds and supporting groundbreaking women´s groups worldwide.