Strengthening and unifying the agenda of women’s rights and socioenvironmental justice

By Vanessa Ourique Purper

CASA Socio-Environmental Fund is part of the Global Alliance for Green and Gender Action – GAGGA, a five-year program, financed by the Dutch Government, which aims to enhance the collective power of women’s and socio-environmental justice movements and groups. The main objective is to contribute to policies and practices that provide answers and solutions to gender issues in terms of access to water, food and a clean, healthy and safe environment. Through the consolidation of a collective agenda for women’s and socio-environmental justice movements and groups, different actors in 30 countries are articulated to carry out this initiative.

In Marina Kué, Paraguay, the community unites for environmental education and the preservation of clean and safe water.

Fondo CASA is the only socio-environmental fund in South America, part of GAGGA. Our goal is to support groups and movements in Bolivia and Paraguay. The year 2017 is the second of GAGGA’s operations and CASA has already supported 53 projects for the Alliance, all of them involved in the fight for better living conditions for all.

The women of APRO – Association of Organic Producers from Areguá, Paraguay, perform different activities for the success of the organization.

Women have a very important role in the management of natural assets and in the struggle to preserve access to them for themselves, their families and their communities. However, the work that women do at the community level is often little valued and recognized. In the field visits that the CASA Fund team made to some GAGGA grantees in Bolivia and Paraguay, we saw how much women’s participation and energy are essential in the success of projects’ activities.

The National Confederation of Indigenous Women of Bolivia disseminate important information about socio-environmental justice throughout the country.

After two years of deepening our knowledge about the political, social and economic realities of the countries where we act, we perceive that GAGGA is a great opportunity to strengthen grassroots groups’ abilities to achieve real change and many positive impacts.

This is aligned with CASA Fund’s strategy: our grantmaking is small and interconnected and generate enormous impact. Our strategic network of knowledge and contacts in the territories is our greatest wealth. Through our network, we reach very remote groups, which would not have the opportunity to receive financial support in another way.

If moves forward, the hidroelectric power plant of Rositas will leave under water 22 families from Yumao (Bolivia).