Climate change disproportionately affects women, especially those whose livelihoods depend directly on land and natural resources management. Women also face limitations in accessing land, forests, and financing to grow their community initiatives. Under the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day, "Investing in Women, Accelerating Progress" a webinar on the matter was organized by the Proyecto B’atz, the Rights and Resources Initiative, the Invisible Thread (TINTA), the Mesoamerican Alliance of People and Forests as well as the Coordinator of Women Territorial Leaders of Mesoamerica.??
The online event on investing in Mesoamerican women to reduce violence and promote equitable development highlighted the important contributions that Mesoamerican women make to our Indigenous and community economies, and how this can be a sustainable model for reducing the inequalities that women and girls face. It also addressed the needs and challenges of direct climate finance faced by women-led initiatives in Mesoamerica and how we can move forward on these key issues.?
Please find here some notable key quotes from the event, which took place on International Women’s Day 2024:?
- “According to the UN, one of the main obstacles to achieving gender equality is the lack of financing. It is women who are leading the fight against poverty and inequality, so grassroots organizations are extremely important for defending women's rights and being spokespeople for their own needs.” - Fátima Aguado
- “The effort must be two-fold, firstly to ensure that donors understand the importance of allocating specific funds for women. At the same time, within the same villages and communities, there are structural processes of discrimination, and these gaps need to be understood from the philanthropic perspective. Generated funds need to be dedicated so that women can contribute to the processes.” - Omaira Bolanos
- “It is a heavy burden that women are facing. There is no governmental organization providing for them or worrying about them.? So poverty turns into extreme poverty. Everyone talks about climate change, but let’s actually think about how climate change affects the women. We need territorial funds for communities!” - Cándida Derek
- “Why is it important to support women in combating climate change? The work assigned to women is very well done. It's a way to stay rooted to the land, to be more resilient in the face of this reality of climate change. It has a multiplier effect because by supporting a woman, you support an entire family, helping them have better food intake, greater access to education. Women can multiply anything that comes into our hands.” - Ana Patricia Ortiz
- “The lack of autonomy, limitations to access or generate income have been due to inequality in accessing natural resources, land, housing, and financing. We have always faced these limitations, including the number of requirements imposed on us as community women. We have to have a legal association because if it's not legal, it cannot receive that financing, and then we have to turn to other organizations that are legal, which generates many expenses that are not included in the financing.” - Irma López
