Women’s International Zionist Organization, founded in 1920. Wizo developed from the Federation of Women Zionists in Great Britain in 1920 as a welfare organization for the care of women and children in Eretz Israel. With headquarters in Tel Aviv, it has branches in 54 countries with a total membership of about 220,000. Some 13,000 children are in the care of 197 Wizo child welfare institutions in Israel, ranging from homes for babies through preschool day centers to clubs and playgrounds for schoolchildren. In the field of education, Wizo maintains six agricultural and vocational training schools in Israel with a total of 3,000 pupils. The services for women and families maintained by Wizo in Israel number 260 and range from mending and sewing courses to a mobile library. Wizo activity in Israel is not centralized but covers social services for women and children from the cradle to the grave, in the whole area from Dan to Elat, wherever there are underprivileged in need of help.