Women from the organization Muuch Kambal in Hopelchén, Campeche, waged a legal battle against Monsanto for having sprayed fields with highly toxic glyphosate-containing pesticides, polluting the water and threatening to eliminate the Melipona bee, and with it, the production of honey, the economic activity that sustains over 15,000 families in the region.
Muuch Kambal provided evidence to the Supreme Court of Justice, and sued the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock Production, Rural Development, Fishing, and Nutrition (SAGARPA) and the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources due to the unconstitutionality of the permission granted for planting transgenic soybeans and the pollution by glyphosate that was affecting the communities. The Supreme Court issued a ruling that granted an appeal and federal protection to indigenous communities.
The organization Brigada Callejera [Street Brigade] supported the mobilization of sex workers seeking to be recognized as self-employed workers. The organization also provided decent and non-discriminatory health services in its community center.
You can learn more about Brigada Callejera’s work here.
In an unprecedented event, the “Afro-Mexican women of the Costa Chica: challenges and breakthroughs in the recognition of their rights” Forum was held in October. The forum brought together more than 50 women from organizations based in Oaxaca and Guerrero. The leaders spoke out about the exclusion and invisibility they face, and urged the Government to acknowledge the constitutional rights of black Afro-Mexican peoples.
5,000 indigenous women and girls were reached through the work of the seven organizations advocating sexual and reproductive rights in the states of Oaxaca, Guerrero, Chiapas, and State of Mexico. In all of those states, forums were held with indigenous women and girls, as well as political, educational, and health authorities in order to introduce the National Charter of Sexual and Reproductive Rights for Adolescents and Youth.
We raised more than
to support women's groups, organizations, and collectives.
We transformed our selection, support, and accompaniment processes, because we want to respond to the needs of the feminist and women's movements, rather than impose lines of action. We seek to provide general support, so the organizations, networks, groups, and collectives can make the most of it in a flexible way: both for their strategies and activities, as well as for their own strengthening.
Our selection process is now participatory and has two key components:
Forty Nahua women of Santa María Coyomeapan, in Puebla, attended workshops on women’s political, social, and cultural rights, as well as their right to a life without violence, taught by the grassroots organization Mujeres de la Sierra Negra [Women from the Sierra Negra], which Fondo Semillas supports. As a result of their increased sensitivity, women decided to depict one of the rights they had recently learned about in an embroidered design.
The result was so impressive that the National Museum of Popular Cultures in Mexico City requested the entire embroidery collection to create an exhibition. “Embroidering My Rights” has already received invitations to be exhibited in the states of Michoacán and Puebla.
I did not know what the right to equality was. Now I know, and I like it and I put it in my embroidery.
Gloria Ramos
Unjustified dismissal, unpaid extras hours, sexual harassment, unsafe workplaces, among other aspects, are the conditions that thousands of women face in maquilas (or factories) linked to the fashion industry in Mexico.
Being aware of this situation, Fondo Semillas, Hispanics in Philanthropy (HIP) and the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Project (ProDESC) decided to join their efforts, and establish an alliance to carry out the project "Improving the Working and Living Conditions for Working Women in Mexico."
This tripartite alliance seeks to strengthen grassroots organizations that advocate labor rights in seven states, as well as point out the responsibility and the obligations of both the private sector and the State.
Fondo Semillas, along with eight funds for women from Latin America and the Caribbean, launched the 1st Latin American short film contest #CortemosLaViolencia [Let’s Cut Violence Short] in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, Argentina, and Dominican Republic. The purpose was to call upon young women to make videos that aimed to raise awareness of, prevent, and take action against the different types of gender based violence.
We received 73 wonderful works from 16 different countries. The winning video was "Playing for My Rights,” from Mexico, by Mujeres, Lucha y Derechos para Todas (Women, Struggle, and Rights for Everyone), a Mazahua women’s organization we support in the State of Mexico.
The #EnCausArte campaign was launched in late 2016 and encouraged people with an annual tax liability to "channel" their taxes by making a donation to Fondo Semillas and, thus, improving the lives of Mexican women. The campaign was presented during an event at the OMR Gallery, with the generous participation of mezzo-soprano singer Verónica Alexanderson, finance journalist Regina Reyes Heroles, and presentations by two grantee partners who use art as a strategy for raising awareness and transforming the community.
The event raised $29,566 UDS, which have allowed Fondo Semillas to support three new grassroots women's groups.
In 2016 we launched our dynamic and interactive new website, with beautiful photos of our partners and videos to better communicate our work. We also launched a blog where we report the achievements of the women's groups we support and address issues of concern for the advancement of women's rights.
Have you seen it yet?
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