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 In October of this year fifteen women's
organizations in eight countries in Latin America have joined the Huairou
Commission, in partnership with UN-Habitat and the Dutch Government (MDG3
Fund), in a commitment to increase grassroots women's participation and
influence in local decision-making processes through the Local to Local
dialogue initiative. Pilot initiatives will be launched by women's
organizations in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Guatemala, Mexico,
Nicaragua and Peru as a result of the Local to Local Dialogue training held
in Quito, Ecuador in July of this year by the Huairou Commission.
Through the training women were inspired to take on the challenge of
supporting women to participate in local processes, improve partnership and
collaboration with local leaders, and build governance from the ground
up. The results and lessons from these pilots will be shared over the
next months through on-line updates such as this one and at the upcoming
UN-Habitat World Urban Forum IV in Rio de Janeiro where a few grassroots
women leaders will receive scholarships to share their experiences with other
civil society groups, local authorities and regional and global institutions
at a special networking session dedicated to women's leadership and
participation in local governance.
Below is a brief description of the first seven organizations
participating in this initiative and their intentions for their pilots.
Please continue to check out our updates from the Governance Campaign on the
Latin American Local to Local initiative!
Alianza de Mujeres Lideres de la Región del Itsmo de Tehuantepec, Mexico
Alianza de Mujeres Lideres in the Itsmo region of Tehuantepec is working to
give visibility and capacity to indigenous women contesting for political
positions in the region. The group is working with the director of a local
organization, the House of Culture, Vidal Ramírez Pineda and political leader
of the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) Andrés Rasgado Robles. While the
Alianza is empowered in areas such as culture and education, they want to
focus in the political arena they are not so strong. Therefore, Alianza under
de name of Mujeres Indígenas Líderes (Indigenous Women Leaders) as part of the
PRD party, are proposing to the PRD party statutes and programs to integrate
a 50% quota for women in the municipal committees. In addition, they hope
influence the electoral situation, make women's political participation
visible, and ensure the proposals developed are included in positions of
popular representation. Women feel that this group can sensitize the public
on political processes through training and awareness, and the exchange of
experiences between women leaders and officials including men. Currently,
they have a group of women with experience in public office, interested in
participating in the upcoming elections, and counselors who have felt
identified with the struggle of women where they can meet in this local
community of Juchitan Zaragoza in Oaxaca.
Centro de Atención a la Mujer Trabajadora de Chihuahua, A.C., Mexico
Centro de Atención a la Mujer Trabajadora of Chihuahua, A.C. is organizing a
participatory comprehensive plan in Colonia Diaz Ordaz, located in the
municipality of Chihuahua, to improve the community from a gender
perspective. According to survey results this group conducted in their
community, there are high rates of crime, vandalism, drug use and domestic
violence especially against women and girls and children. Next they are
planning to support women to map the places in the neighborhood they don't
feel safe (truck terminals, shops, schools, parks, etc.). The group has
enlisted the participation of 60 women, many with some experience in this
type of process, to implement the plan. In addition, the group has the
support of a number of local officials including: Oscar Villalobos-Chavez,
Secretary of Social Development, the architect Oscar Burciaga Nieto, director
of Social Cohesion, Nora Morales, Director of Industrial Development; Isela
Lozoya, Chihuahua Institute Women; Ingenier Plinio Lopez, Movimiento Barrios,
Cologne, and Omar Almela from the Business Center of the Universidad Autonoma
de Chihuahua.
Centro de Mujeres Candelaria, Bolivia
El Centro de Mujeres Candelaria, is working with women in the province of
Aroma and Omasuyos to benefit the community and indigenous people by becoming
local level leaders. At present women are training in the areas of
small eneterprise, environment and climate change, political participation
and human rights. The group is developing different initiatives to create
awareness with both men and women and provide an opportunity to work
together. For example, the group is training on handling of dairy cattle,
providing the training to men and women. When the man leaves the
community in search of employment the women are able to care and manage the
dairy cattle, thus the woman earns a space to make decisions related to the
management of their livelihood. Mujeres Candelaria currently has the
support of Stephen Vicencte Cachi, Secretary General of Sorasora,
Aroma.
Federación de Mujeres Municipalistas de América Latina y el Caribe
(FEMUM-ALC / Argentina) and the Comunity Mocoví Lalek-Lav'a, Argentina
Federación de Mujeres Municipalistas de América Latina y el Caribe
(FEMUM-ALC) in Argentina is working on activities related to health with the
ethnic Mocoví in Máximo Paz. FEMUM will work with the Máximo Paz Community
and a group of women trained to carry out this project. They have already taken
the approach to local authorities and community and both sides are willing to
take the next step. Recently, they had a dialogue with the president of the
community, Ivan Camats and the Secretariat of the Social Development, Julio
Lopez, in where he proposed a possible site for the group to meet and a
pediatrician that works in the community, to work with them in this project.
The Municipality of Maipú (Citizen Security Department), Chile
Las Mujeres Liderazas de la Comuna de Maipú in Santiago, Chile are working to
strengthen the capacity and skills of women leaders through knowledge and
tools to enhance their relationships with the local municipal authority. At
the same time the group will integrate the different visions of leadership to
generate a common strategy with recognized presence at all levels of formal
and informal community. They are supported by Eugenia González León, General
Coordinator of Public Safety, Silvia Arriagada, Department Manager and
Community Liaison, Italo Olivares, Technical Secretary of Public Security
Community Plan and Elba Ahumada, Technical Advisor of Public Safety.
La Unión de Cooperativas Las Brumas, Nicaragua
Las Brumas proposed that 5% of the municipal budget be predetermined for
productive activities and social aspects including health, education, and
materials for 'plan techo' for the roof of the houses of women. In
order for the government to sign the proposal, the organization is following
up with women who are working within the municipal. They currently have the
support of the Mayor Celso Cruz Amador and Maria Esther Perez, Vice - Mayor.
La Asociación de Coordinación de Desarrollo Integral de mujeres (CODIMM),
Guatemala
CODIMM is working on the "Agenda de Mujeres Mayas Kaqchikeles" of
the municipality of San Juan Comalapa in the Department of Chimaltenango,
which including issues important to women such as women's health, education,
economic empowerment, and the labor issue. Currently 40 Mayan women are engaged
who have been trained in indicators in areas such as human development,
political advocacy and the millennium goals.
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