Latin America

AMC is a network of territorial, local, and national groups that works within urban and rural areas of Costa Rica and engages with around 5,200 grassroots women directly and indirectly.

Through lectures, meetings, seminars, and marches, AMC focuses its efforts on themes related to HIV/AIDS, sexual and reproductive health, violence, land and housing, governance, and human rights. The organization has also positioned itself as a leader in the global grassroots women movement by participating in UN debates, the Habitat II Conference, and the World Conference on Women in 1995.

AMC joined Huairou Commission in 1990 to coordinate and connect with grassroots women on a global scale and has since participated in various regional and global conferences.

APRUCAN is an informal rural grassroots women’s organization from Panama working on community agriculture and food security particularly on fostering community gardens as part of their community resilience program.

The organization is mentored by another Huairou Commission’s member – FUNDEPROMUCOOP, but retain their independence. The organization fosters women’s leadership through online and face to face workshops and peer exchanges that enhance their leadership and decision-making skills.  APRUCAN has joined the Huairou Commission to part-take in grassroots women’s peer-learning network and acquire more knowledge on resilience and leadership practices.

ASAPROMU is a grassroots women’s organization working with community based resilience and security, including the security of livelihoods in rural and urban areas of El Salvador. They have joined the Huairou Commission in 2019 with the purpose of advancing their women’s leadership development tools and methods and learning from other grassroots women’s organizations.  Organization currently counts 125 women members, who are keen to further organize communities, reach other women, support each other and transform their community lives for the better.

CODIMM is a facilitating NGO in Guatemala that joined the Huairou Commission (HC) in 2005 to be a part of a global grassroots network and learn more about the capacity-building tools from HC. 

CODIMM has  350 women members and 10 affiliated women’s groups that are engaged in raising awareness of indigenous rural women and in empowering these women in rural, urban and peri-urban areas including the Municipalities of Chimaltenango, Guatemala, and the rural areas of ​​Guatemala, Sacatepéquez and Sololá.

Additionally, CODIMM works on the issues of health, land and housing, education, capacity building, food security, and community resilience. Regarding the women’s empowerment, CODIMM conducts trainings according to the topics that are helpful and interesting to the women groups and their families.

CISCSA is an NGO in Cordoba, Argentina that addresses issues of land and housing, resilience, urban services, and safety from violence within urban areas. The organization has participated in global urban forums, Habitat III conferences, and the UN Commission on the Status of Women events, alongside others. 

CICSA’s policy work focuses on creating cities free of gender-based violence, strengthening urban services, creating acceptable housing, and increasing the accessibility to and safety of transportation. The organization joined Huairou Commission shortly after its inception in 1996 to secure women’s’ rights to land, housing, and cities.

Centro de Mujeres Candelaria is a community organization that works in Bolivia to address issues related to HIV/AIDS, resilience, land and housing, and governance. Through strengthening the training and capacity building of women leaders, Centro de Mujeres Candelaria fosters grassroots women leadership and participation within their communities. 

The organization’s advocacy goals are to transform the power dynamics within their rural communities to allow for indigenous families to participate and to promote women empowerment and decision making. Centro de Mujeres Candelaria joined Huairou Commission in 2007 because of their similar efforts to empower grassroots women and their organizations.

AMDUI is a Guatemalan organization that joined Huairou Commission in 2012 because of its projects that build the capacity of women who live in the communities that are the most prone to the effects of climate change. The organization works with 150 women in both urban and rural areas.

AMDUI’s work focuses on resilience, governance, and education. They use the Diamond of Change Theory methodology and local to local dialogues to foster leadership within their grassroots women. AMDUI has also engaged globally through participating in Climate Change Conventions with the UN, the DRR global platform, and preparatory meetings for Habitat III.

Central de Bancos Comunales (CBC) is a community organization in Peru. CBC joined Huairou Commission (HC) in 2004 because of the network and connectivity opportunities that HC offers.

CBC accounts for 350 consolidated members and 26 affiliated organizations that are mainly based in peri-urban settings of Peru and work on resilience, land and housing issues, as well as good governance. The prime goal for CBC is women’s empowerment and transformation of powers in the political arena.  On a regular basis, the organization conducts workshops and events dedicated to peer exchange and learning. 

CBC sees women’s empowerment as a way of promoting women entrepreneurs in the process of local economic development and strengthening the law to abolish violence against women. Every year CBC discusses these issues with the major partners such as the SEA, the Concertation Bureau for the Fight against Poverty in Metropolitan Lima, the Health Centers, and the Municipality of El Agustino.

Centro de Mujeres Pombos is a feminist women’s organization based in Pombos-Pernambuco, Brazil. The group works within these regions in rural and urban areas on issues of governance, land, housing, and resilience. Counting 15 political partners and numerous partner organizations, Centro de Mujeres Pombos fosters leadership within grassroots women by empowering them politically, socially, and economically.

The organization joined Huairou Commission in 2010 because of their agreement with the Commission’s political proposals. Centro de Mujeres Pombos has placed itself in the global women’s grassroots movement by participating in a Dialogue-to-Dialogue Workshop in Quito, Ecuador and at the International Urban Reform Forum in Rio de Janeiro.

Centro Municipal de Violencia Mujer y Derechos Humanos is a municipal organization located in San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina. The organization works with a variety of different organizations to address issues of resilience, land and housing, and gender-based violence.

The group has worked with numerous programs to foster women’s leadership and has even been distinguished by UN-Habitat for their role in empowering women. In addition to focusing their policy effort on women empowerment, the organization also prioritizes transforming power relationships. 

Centro Municipal de Violencia Mujer y Derechos Humanos joined Huairou Commission in 2008 to become a part of the global grassroots women movement and to better position themselves to transform society’s and women’s quality of life within their regions.

CONAMOVIDI is a federation founded in Peru. Having 64 affiliated organizations across Peru, the CONAMOVIDI has focused its work on governance and resilience, and especially on women’s empowerment. The organization set the transformation of traditional decision-making in politics as the main strategic goal.

The strategy of CONAMOVIDI is to promote participation with other actors at local and national levels, in forums, seminars, trainings, and Local-to-Local Dialogues with local NGOs. The organizations use a wide range of tools and platforms to achieve relevant goals of the  Sustainable Development Goals, SENDAI framework, and New Urban Agenda.

Having joined Huairou Commission (HC) in 2008, HC appealed to CONAMOVIDI by promoting women as leaders at the community, national, regional, and global levels, including strengthening the capacities of grassroots women and supports economic empowerment

Rede Pintadas is a grassroots organization based in Brazil. They joined the HC in 2008 and count 50 members. Rede Pintadas organize women in cooperatives and associations to promote the independence of women groups. The organization has a Board of Directors that meets regularly.

They work in rural areas, focusing on issues of resilience, climate change, governance and women’s empowerment.  They promote the solidarity economy in their agricultural programs, implement food supply programs for schools. Rede Pintadas also apply Diamond Methodology in their work and host peer exchanges with other Huairou groups, such as Las Brumas, and host regular training and capacity building sessions for women.

FEMUM ALC (FA) is a facilitating network in Peru. FA works with affiliated organizations in Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, Rep.Dominicana, and allied networks in Mexico. In each country, there are local partners from municipal, political, academic, neighborhood, and women’s groups. 

FA has a very broad scale of work and advocacy programs: citizen participation and governance; new policy approaches to public equity and interculturalism; the global agenda in local communities; peace and security strategies violence prevention transparency in public budgeting; female leadership and political participation; economic development; post-disaster and reconstruction measures; gender agendas; and investment in childhood and adolescence. 

Regarding women’s capacity building, FA conducts leadership trainings and uses its international project to empower women through platforms like the Urban Thinkers Campuses (UTC). FA also promotes mentoring to strengthen the new leaders, youth, and women. The organization also promotes civil diplomacy to generate peace, security, and local dialogues in the context of violence, post-conflict, and post-disaster events. FA became a member of Huairou Commission in 2004 to join the global grassroots movement and support the empowerment of women internationally.

Fundación AVP para el Desarrollo Social is an organization that works in numerous urban communities within the country of Colombia. Working closely with their partner Red Mujer y Hábitat de América Latina, the group joined Huairou Commission for better advocacy opportunities at the international level. Since then, Fundación AVP participated in the global events of the 2014 Urban World Forum.

The majority of the organization’s work is orientated towards strengthening grassroots women’s autonomy and advocacy capabilities. They work to amplify, debate with, form partnerships with, and facilitate grassroots women. Fundación AVP also works on issues of public policies and uses a variety of leadership tools to fortify women’s voices and impact.

FUNDEPROMU COOP is a grassroots organization in Panama. The organization includes 245 members and 7 affiliated organizations in rural, urban, and peri-urban areas focusing on environment, resilience, physical and mental health, and governance. 

The policy priorities that FUNDEPROMU COOP are focused on are promoting women’s recognition in politics, development of family units and community, and development of women leaders through trainings and projects. The organization aims to enrich the experience and skills of women through working alliances with local and international organizations. Additionally, FUNDEPROMU COOP conducts peer-to-peer learning sessions in all affiliated women groups upon their needs. 

FUNDEPROMU COOP became a member of Huairou Commission in 2012 because they wanted to partner with an organization that takes into account the development of women within the social, ecological, economic, psychological, cultural, and educational spheres of life. Additionally, FUNDEPROMU COOP wanted to represent Panama in the global grassroots movement.

Fundación de Mujeres Luna Creciente (FMLC) is a national network in Ecuador that became a member of Huairou Commission in 2008 to be a part of a global grassroots network, support grassroots women locally and internationally, and identify democratic solutions and justice for grassroots women with other organizations. 

FMLC conducts peer learning sessions with women, feminist organizations, indigenous movements, and populations affected by the earthquakes to promote the empowerment of the local community. With two main partners, the National Coalition of Women of Ecuador and ONG Facilitadora, FMLC plans the educational programs for grassroots women and local community and develops strategic plans to address resilience, women’s health and promote women’s participation and engagement in political processes. 

FMLC supports grassroots women organizations through organizational strengthening, trainings on leadership building, and negotiations. Additionally, FMLC integrates women leaders and organizations in broader platforms and movements at national and regional levels for cooperation and networking purposes. 

Fundación Guatemala (FG) is a facilitating NGO in Guatemala. FG engages 7 consolidated members and 34 affiliated organizations in work on resilience, land and housing, good governance and gender training in rural and urban areas. FG has mainly focused on strengthening the leadership of grassroots women and promoting resilient development through a wide range of initiatives and projects.

Capacity building for grassroots women is done through training workshops, peer exchange, assistance techniques and participation in decision-making spaces such as the National Roundtable for the Reduction of Disaster Risk, the National Climate Change Dialogue Panel, Group of Forests, Biodiversity and Climate Change of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, and through direct links between CONRED, MAGA and the PCPR to increase scale the leadership.

FG became a member of Huairou Commission in 2000 to be part of the grassroots movement and join the projects that positively affected grassroots women globally in terms of empowerment and women rights.

The organization works with about 10 women in rural areas of Guatemala to strengthen community resilience. In addition to using the Diamond Theory of Change Methodology, Laru Beya supports its members by encouraging them to participate in all spaces so they can increase their leadership and their voice.

The main policy priorities of the organization are women’s rights and empowerment. With these interests in mind, Laru Beya engaged with the global grassroots women movement by preparing for and participating in the Habitat III Conference. In 2014, Laru Beya joined Huairou Commission to have support in their work, especially in their projects that focus on empowering women.

MUDECI, which stands for Mujeres, Democracia y Ciudadanía A.C. (Women, Democracy and Citizenship A.C. in English), is a grassroots organization located in Mexico. Consisting on 20 consolidated members, MUDECI works in a number of rural and peri-urban communities on issues of governance, resilience, land, housing, and education. The organization bases its leadership on the Popular Feminist Education and emphasizes understanding one another as well as the structural and ideological roots of their lives.

MUDECI joined Huairou Commission in 2015 to elevate their work, strengthen their community work practices, and learn about successful practices of other groups around the world. Over their years of work, the group has participated in numerous global events, such as Habitat III, Urban World Forum IX, and Commission of the Status of Women 60 in 2016.

Mujeres Iberoamericanas en Red por la Igualdad Presupuestal entre Mujeres y Hombres (MIRA) is a regional network based in Mexico that engages 35 members and 30 affiliated organizations to work on human rights, sustainable equality of women, right to the city, public politics and macroeconomy in urban and rural settings of the county. 

The thematic areas of work for MIRA with grassroots women are training in gender, development of policy knowledge and application of the methodologies of the Huairou Commission, MIRA’s own methodologies, as well as localization of New Urban Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals. MIRA  also advocates for negotiations with the local authorities for including human rights and gender equality in policy-making processes.

MIRA became a member of Huairou Commission in 2013.

Nuestra Luz, also known as Iseri Walampu, is a grassroots community group located in Trujillo, Honduras. Counting about 1,000 members, Nuestra Luz works in both rural and peri-urban communities on issues of land, agriculture, economic entrepreneurship, resilience, governance and HIV/AIDS. The group works politically on issues of preserving natural lands and women empowerment within the development of their own communities. Nuestra Luz has 10 affiliated organization, consisting of a variety of different partners, including some that focus their work in agriculture and artisans. 

The organization joined Huairou Commission in 2005 due to its complimentary interest in climate change, community ecotourism, reforestation, and global political events. Since then, Nuestra Luz has participated in the Global Resilience Campaign and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Nuevo Amanecer is an organization made up of individuals that are infected with HIV/AIDS and live in the Trujillo, Colon area of Honduras. The organization works to mobilize and empower these infected and affected individuals by providing education that reinforces their human rights and provides them with accurate knowledge. 

A few of the main objectives of this group are to encourage active participation in their work, to disseminate information about HIV/AIDS to vulnerable populations and the general public, and to train their members to divulge their rights and inform other of the actions that prevent the spreading of HIV/AIDS. Nuevo Amanecer engages in this work to eliminate the stigma and discrimination that threatens individuals living with HIV/AIDS.

OMICSE is a national network in Ecuador. The organization has 1238 women members and 26 affiliated organizations focusing on governance, resilience, land and housing, environment and climate change, and food security in 4 different provinces in rural areas.  

The group focuses on facilitating and enhancing grassroots women’s capacity, organizations, communities, and grassroots academies (interaprendizaje). The organization also provides skills trainings, workshops, methodologies to gather information in the field (e.g., community mapping adaptation to climate change), mechanisms for economic empowerment (e.g., resilience funds), and promotes spaces to make visible the leadership and work of women. 

OMISCE became a member of Huairou Commission (HC) in 2006 because HC promoted women’s capacity on different issues, with a diversity of ethnicities, nationalities, and women’s groups in the global grassroots movement.

Plataforma Comunitaria Comité y Redes de Honduras WAGUCHA is federation network in Honduras. WAGUCHA engages 2000 consolidated members and 20 associations in agricultural areas, 5 associations in craftsmen areas, and an additional 5 associations (Galpones) in rural communities, cities and peri-urban areas. WAGUCHA’s work focuses on land and housing rights, agriculture, resilience, entrepreneurship, and governance.

WAGUCHAuses Community Assemblies with the grassroots leaders to discuss programs and projects on issues of territories, agriculture, and crafts. Moreover, WAGUCHA organizes learning and capacity building sessions for grassroots women with such organizations as Compah Confederation of Indigenous Peoples of Honduras, Dinafroh Before Project Free Consultation, Consensus Building, Direction of Indigenous Peoples, and My Environment Nature Management.

After the hurricane Mitch in 1998, WAGUCHA became a member of Huairou Commission to learn more about resilience work from the peer organizations, develop communities after the hurricane, conduct reconstruction and post-disaster recovery projects, and join the international grassroots movement.

JOEMPRES is a grassroots organization in Nicaragua that engages 298 members throughout rural, peri-urban, and urban areas. The organization joined Huairou Commission in 2015 because its leaders felt as though the Commission is the only instance in which both women and youth are sufficiently represented. 

Addressing the environment, resilience, and governance and using agroecological practices to mitigate climate change, JOEMPRES also empowers the youth of their communities by allowing them to further develop the organization’s work. Similarly, JOEMPRES’s main advocacy priorities are to defend the rights and visibility of the youth, create studying opportunities to help youth find decent jobs, and to ensure food security through crop and land care.

Red de Mujeres Organizadas de Lima Este is an organization that is a member of a national network in Peru. Red de Mujeres Organizadas de Lima Este became a member of Huairou Commission (HC) to connect with others on an international level and to join the global grassroots movement.

Red de Mujeres Organizadas de Lima Este has 16 affiliated organizations that work together on health, housing and land, good governance, safe cities, and climate change. The organization works directly with grassroots leaders on capacity building for women in communities through learning programs with local authorities and academia and through peer exchange sessions. The grassroots women leaders are provided with the skills and education on tools for improving the environment, protecting women’s rights, and making rural women’s voices heard. All sessions and workshops are developed in partnership with institutions and networks of Peru.

Red de Mujeres Organizadas de Lima Este strategic target is to increase women’s participation and representation in political and socio-economic life at local and national levels.

Red Mujeres y Paz is a founding network from Guatemala. The organization works with 5 network groups in Central America at the regional level: Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. In Guatemala, there are 16 organizations of rural women and Indigenous members of the Network. The scope of work for Red Mujeres includes governance, land and housing, as well as resilience. 

The organization facilitates women’s capacity building through leadership workshops, capacity strengthening for grassroots women with an emphasis on organized political advocacy to work with state institutions created with the Agreements of Peace. The workshops are usually carried out as exchanges of experience between peers participating in national and international events such as the Regional Forum of Training and Socialization Meetings

Red Mujers joined Huairou Commission in 2000 to be a part of the collective voices of women worldwide and give voices to grassroots women. Moreover, the organization wanted to establish an agenda for securing basic services in the informal settlements in post-conflict societies with the help of Huairou.

DESATEPIN is a national federation in Nicaragua accounting for 580 members and 5 affiliated grassroots groups of 5 Municipalities and 18 communities. The main focus in the organization is around resilience and governance, environment and sustainable agriculture, agroecological practices and alliances.

DESATEPIN organizes trainings with the main leaders in the communities on leadership and organization capacity building, agroecology techniques, strengthening the work of grassroots women, and conducting networking sessions. The grassroots groups are also given the autonomy to exchange experience and enrich their knowledge with the other members and organizations.

DESATEPIN became a member of Huairou Commission (HC) in 2014 to be a part of the global network supporting the grassroots movement, as well as to use HC tools in enhancing grassroots women’s and organizational capacity.

Servicios Educativos El Agustino (SEA) is a facilitating NGO in Peru. SEA has 16 affiliated organizations focusing on issues of resilience, land and housing, good governance, environment, and youth. The organization is engaged in rural, urban and peri-urban settings in Peru.

SEA’s thematic work is in facilitating the empowerment of grassroots women through integral community and neighborhood development. SEA facilitates capacity building through programs and trainings. With core partners like Central de Bancos Comunales, CONAMOVIDI and the Women’s Network Organized from Lima East, SEA conduct workshops on education, skills training, and leadership for the grassroots and communities. Additionally, SEA cooperates with the grassroots organizations to develop a joint evaluation process to assess outcomes of each year.

SEA became a member of Huairou Commission (HC) in 2007 to promote and empower women, women’s rights, as well as to support the global grassroots women’s movement.

SUR Corporación de Estudios Sociales y Educación is an NGO based in Chile working on safe public spaces for women and girls and the community rights to public space as a democratic, social and economic space. It also focuses on fighting violence against women, securing women’s access to housing and their security of tenure, alongside community resilience and disaster risk reduction. SUR has worked with the Huairou Commission since 1996 Habitat II conference. The organization is part of the Women and Habitat network in Latin America and works in urban context.

The Women and Habitat Network of Latin America is the founding network of the Huairou Commission. It is made up of 18 organizations from 15 countries. The current regional coordination is in SUR Corporación, Santiago de Chile.

Its main objectives are: To generate knowledge from a gender perspective in relation to access to land and housing, urban services, greater security in the city, and to local development and management, which emphasize situations of poverty and inequality that affect women. To influence the design and implementation of public policies and programs with gender equity through awareness-raising and capacity building in government institutions, education centers, and women’s organizations. And lastly, to contribute to the improvement of the quality of life of women, through the development of programs and projects in dialogue and alliances with local governments and community organizations.

The Women and Habitat Network works with various grassroots women’s groups and organizations which participate in programs and projects at the regional, national, and local levels. In its activities, the Network implements peer-to-peer exchanges, the Diamond Methodology, and participatory methodologies for the construction of dialogues, collective assessments and proposals at various levels.

The main priorities of the Network in relation to the Huairou Commission are to strengthen the action of the organizations and the network.

Las Brumas is a member of a national network in Nicaragua. Having become a member of Huairou Commission (HC) in 2003, Las Brumas was attracted by HC’s work, grassroots movement goals, and women’s empowerment values.

Las Brumas engages 1,232 consolidated members and 22 affiliated organizations in rural areas of the country on building climate resilience, protecting women’s rights for land and housing, as well as facilitating leadership of grassroots women in political and social processes. 

With the main partners, HC and Municipalities of Mayors, the organization continues to strengthen the role of women in development, as well as promote certification of small businesses and financial assistance for grassroots women. Through training with Las Brumas, women acquire knowledge of leadership, political education, and negotiation skills.