Cooperate to empower
Between December 2019 and June 2022, thanks to funding from the Basque Agency for Development Cooperation (AVCD) and the cooperation between TAU Fundazioa and CORDES, we have carried out a project to empower Salvadoran rural women in Aguilares, El Paisnal and San Pablo tacachico.
This project is part of a strategy aimed at the empowerment of 300 women, the development of their leadership and capacities, their recognition as women producers and income generators, so that they value their potential, make decisions about productive activity and are aware their contribution to the family economy. In fact, after the execution of the project, Rosa Cruz, one of the participating women, shares this reflection: “Rural women are the ones who bring that food to each home, our producing hands make the economy of this country grow and move forward.”
For this, awareness and training campaigns have been necessary on various issues of empowerment, knowledge of their rights, as well as technical-productive and marketing content, since they have been launched with the project 207 agricultural production systems for women.
Knowledge of their rights in the search for equality with training processes and leadership training for a total of 300 women has had a special impact on the participating women. Likewise, 200 men have participated in eight days of “New masculinities”. in order to reduce their macho attitudes.
The launch of an equality awareness program has also been important, through 10 radio programs and a weekly television program called “Mujeres sin Barreras”, broadcast live on a Local Television channel and on Facebook Life.
Lastly, another of the keys to the project has been the organizational strengthening of women, setting up a total of 17 community women’s committees (6 in San Pablo Tacachico, 8 in El Paísnal, 3 in Aguilares), which invigorate community organization and make incidence with the identification of demands and the elaboration of gender policy proposals towards the municipalities. In fact, during the project, the review and update of three municipal public gender policies has been carried out with the participation of 535 women belonging to these 17 new community committees.
All this interesting and meritorious process of empowerment has been systematized in a video that can be seen on the TAUfundazioa Youtube channel.
