The idea of a worldwide association of women's studies organizations was originally conceived at the NGO Forum of the United Nations Conference on Women, held in Kenya in 1985, as a way of maintaining the connections made there among women's studies practitioners from around the world.
In 1995, at the NGO Forum held in China, a series of workshops brought together more than 165 women from 43 countries. They joined hands to endorse the creation of an international organization of feminist/women's studies associations.
The following year, 1996, at the Sixth International Interdisciplinary Congress on Women (IICW), in Adelaide, WOWS was officially launched.
Subsequently,
a working group of nine volunteers representing different regions of the world worked
together to prepare for the first General Assembly meeting of founding members to be held
at the Seventh IICW (Tromsų, Norway) in 1999. At this meeting, representatives from 13
member groups approved the "Principals of Operation". A Steering Committee to
administer WOWS between 1999 and 2002 and prepare for the next General Assembly was named.
Finally, a subcommittee was formed to select sites for future International
Interdisciplinary Congresses on Women.
Worldwide Organization of Women's
Studies 
