A Gender and Youth Justice Approach
By Valentina de Rooy, Co-Director of the Central America Program
"You cannot defend the territory-land without defending the body of girls and women"
Lorena Cabnal, Xinca indigenous activist (Guatemala)
The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed and exacerbated the inequalities and vulnerabilities experienced by indigenous, rural and “campesino” communities. Girls and women are the populations that have faced most of the challenges. The confinement and the economic crisis impacted the worsening violence, greater care work responsibilities and a decrease in women's income, which was already precarious and unequal before the pandemic. Among the most affected productive sectors, "46% of low-income women stopped receiving their salaries as a result of the crisis" (SICA, May 17, 2021).
In the midst of the health crisis that gripped the world these last few years, Trees, Water & People (TWP) strengthened ties with our partners, and carried out actions with a gender and youth justice approach to address the needs of groups at higher risk. Part of this collective effort is also to recognize the waves of resistance and resilience emanating from groups of women and women leaders who are fighting for the recognition of their rights, the creation of spaces free of violence, access to and defense of their territories’ natural resources, and the construction of local economic alternatives.
The month of September ends with the culmination of a USAID-funded holistic project to address and create solutions to fight these forms of violence and inequalities. Together with our partner Utz Che' from Guatemala, 487 members of 9 community-based organizations were reached. Through inspiring testimonies, 73% of women from the community Women's Councils show a greater understanding of Gender Based Violence (GBV) and ways to fight against it, 82% have improved the production of native crops in their vegetable gardens and parcels, and 9 productive ventures are evolving led by the women's groups. Other unprecedented results influenced the recognition of women's rights to access and manage land, and the recovery of ancestral medicinal practices as a vehicle for healing. These are the first steps towards the emancipation of these women and the intergenerational inheritance of new forms of coexistence.
In Honduras, Meliza Núñez, a trained stove-builder from Olanchito, Yoro repeats over and over again “I love my job”. As she shares how building improved cookstoves with the TWP project has changed her life by tripling her income, her passion lies in playing a transformative role in communities by supporting families to transition to clean cooking. With her extensive experience and more than 700 stoves built, she does not hesitate to continue facing the challenges that this work imposes as a woman, including traveling long distances alone between buses and on horseback to reach remote areas where the families who have requested her services live.
The goal of promoting productive ventures with women and young people has been disseminated by all of our partners, accompanied by training and awareness processes on women's participation in the local economy and the natural resources conservation of their territories. This is the case of Patricia Barrientos, a resident of the municipality of Izalco, who raises pigs to slaughter for sale and preparation of traditional dishes. Patricia is part of the AAP Program (El Salvador) that supports and promotes small agricultural businesses, and in this second year of execution, the plan incorporates 14 entrepreneurs from the Municipality of Atiquizaya, of which 9 are women.
As TWP, we have a deep admiration for the men and women of “campesinos” and indigenous communities with whom we collaborate, who resist and fight to transform their realities towards more just and dignified ways of life. This is a titanic endeavor we undertook many years ago alongside our partners in Central America. We will continue to strengthen it to ensure that all voices are heard to heal this land, which is their body-territory.