Fistula Foundation

The Fistula Foundation is dedicated to raising awareness of and funding for obstetric fistula treatment, prevention and education programs worldwide. The foundation is the largest private organization dedicated solely to fighting fistula globally.

It is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization which was founded in 2000. It is headquartered in San Jose, California. Since its inception it has raised more than $20 million from donors throughout the United States. Until 2008, the foundation supported only the work of Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia, founded by Dr. Catherine Hamlin and her late husband Reginald Hamlin. Since 2009, the foundation has extended its reach to more than 42 grantees in 19 countries across Africa and Southeast Asia. The foundation remains an important funder of Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia.

Although the foundation funds projects for awareness and prevention of fistula, its primary focus is supporting treatment, either directly through fistula repair surgeries, or indirectly through training and the provision and equipping of medical facilities. Countries where the foundation has supported projects include Afghanistan, Angola, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Guinea Bissou, Kenya, Liberia, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia, Somaliland, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.

The foundation is a partner of the United Nations Population Fund’s Campaign to End Fistula. Other partners include Women and Health Alliance (WAHA), Direct Relief International, the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) and the International Society of Obstetric Fistula Surgeons (ISOFS).

The foundation has a twelve-member Board of Directors; the chair is Ethiopian-American Kassy Kebede and the chief executive officer is Kate Grant. The Fistula Foundation meets all Better Business Bureau Standards of Charity Accountability and has received the top 4-Star Rating from Charity Navigator for the last six years placing it in the top 3% of charities nationwide.

The foundation was a primary sponsor of the documentary film A Walk to Beautiful which won the Best Feature-Length Documentary of 2007 from the International Documentary Association as well as an Emmy for best long form documentary in 2008. The film tells the story of five Ethiopian women treated by Dr. Hamlin and her staff at the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital. PBS's NOVA is the other major sponsor of the documentary.

More recently, the foundation has been mentioned several times by Nicholas D. Kristof in the New York Times and is a featured NGO partner of the Half the Sky Movement, a movement surrounding the PBS documentary film release of the book that Kristof authored with wife Sheryl WuDunn: Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide.

The Fistula Foundation is a Google grant recipient and has received funding and supplies from Johnson & Johnson.