58 million women live in rural areas across Latin America. They and their communities disproportionately experience poverty and discrimination. In Paraguay, the Organization of Peasant and Indigenous Women (CONAMURI) is led by women across 12 departments and was founded as a space to inform, empower, and raise their voices. This year, they celebrated their 25th anniversary defending women’s rights.
CONAMURI runs the India Juliana School, an annual training program for more than 50 women leaders. The Pan American Development Foundation (PADF) was honored to partner with them to support the program’s implementation.
CONAMURI convened representatives from five state institutions – the Ministry of Women, Ministry of Education and Sciences, Paraguayan Institute of Crafts, National Administration of Electricity, and Ministry of Health – to participate and listen as the women outlined their communities’ needs and demands, such as electricity, access to government ID, and comprehensive health care and education. At the women’s request, the representatives agreed to form a working group to ensure continued collaboration and effective follow-up.
These women face many obstacles: They are not consulted in the appointment of representatives of the indigenous peoples; their communities do not have access to water, roads, health care, and education; they are very young mothers with three or four children. Despite these obstacles, they collectively organize themselves to generate a minimum income that allows them to engage in women’s spaces and fight for themselves, their children, grandmothers, and mothers.
They fight without fear and sacrifice for everything they need to live with dignity and rights.”
Carlo Arze
Country Representative – Paraguay
Email: connect@padf.org
Laura Aragón
Director – Women and Gender
Email: connect@padf.org
