Advocating for Women and Sustainable Development in Mexico

“If I change, I can change the world,” said José Adrian Figueroa Hernández, President of Ecoparadigma and participant in CEDPA’s Advocacy, Gender and Sustainable Development Workshop in Mexico City. He was referring to the importance of developing ones’ own skills in order to create change in others.

Adrian‘s organization works to educate rural women and their families in the importance of sustainable living in San Luis Potosí. He is one of 58 men and women who were given the opportunity to attend one of two CEDPA advocacy workshops sponsored by ExxonMobil and SEMARNAT, the Mexican Department of the Environment and Natural Resources.

The intense, three-day workshops are geared towards civil society leaders working in NGOs and governmental organizations dealing with the environment. The curriculum builds participants advocacy skills and ensures that each participant incorporates a gender perspective into the sustainable development programs they are advocating for, whether creating new legislation or ensuring that current legislation is implemented.

During the workshop, the participants acquired a practical understanding of gender and how it impacts daily life. Maria Trinidad Gutiérrez Ramírez, President of the Programa Interdisciplinario de Investigación Acción Feminista and participant in the second workshop, gave a presentation of her work with women in Mexico, demonstrating the need to create change.

“Some of indigenous women we work with sell brooms that they’ve made,” said Maria Trinidad. “They don’t see themselves as providers, even though it is the money that they earn that supports their family. They believe that the men are the providers.”

The participatory workshop curriculum included activities such as a timeline exercise.

Contradictions like the one in Maria Trinidad’s story are why ExxonMobil, SEMARNAT and CEDPA joined forces in the avant-garde alliance four years ago. SEMARNAT created an advisory council of NGOs to include the opinion of civil society in their work.

ExxonMobil and CEDPA have a long-standing partnership building the capacity of civil society leaders around the world. When ExxonMobil learned about SEMARNAT’s council of civil society leaders, they saw an opportunity to strengthen the leaders’ ability to advocate for key environmental issues and to work in partnership with CEDPA and SEMARNAT.

The participants of the workshops left with a better understanding of advocacy and gender, and how both can be incorporated into their environmental framework to improve the lives of the Mexican people.

“I’m learning, and I’m especially learning about focusing on gender,” said Luisa Teresa Denegre-Vaught Charruf, Programs Coordinator at Mundo y Conciencia and participant of the second workshop. “Before, I really didn’t understand. I worked with young people and the environment, but now I have the terminology. I can express myself the right way, and I thank the workshop for that.”

Read more about CEDPA workshops.

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