Promoting the empowerment of women in the Andean highlands
In 2019, FAMSI, with the support of the Provincial Council of Córdoba (Spain), promoted the first phase of the Gender and Local Power project, carrying out a diagnosis of the work implemented by the Equality and Gender commissions in the municipalities of Ecuador, through a series of practical workshops on municipal strengthening with rural women leaders.
The aim was to promote the empowerment of women in the Andean highlands area, in addition to holding an international meeting of women political authorities that would highlight the political figure of Ecuadorian women, giving testimonies of many women, underlining the need for them to hold political positions in order to achieve true gender equality in all spheres.
The second phase of the Gender and Local Power project, which was also supported by the Provincial Council of Cordoba, as well as the Association of Ecuadorian Municipalities (AME) and the Association of Women of Rural Parish Councils of Ecuador (AMJUPRE), included activities in municipalities and parish councils, aimed at strengthening the capacities and skills of women in political positions at different levels of decentralisation of government. Esmeraldas, also known as San Mateo de las Esmeraldas, is an Ecuadorian city, head of the canton and capital of the province of Esmeraldas, located on the right bank of the mouth of the river of the same name, in the north of the coastal region of Ecuador.
Within this project, a practical guide has been developed as a roadmap for the elaboration of the local agenda for gender equality, a work designed as a working tool for the managers of the Decentralised Autonomous Government of the Municipality of Esmeraldas (GADME), with the aim of replicating it in other municipalities.
The elaboration of the guide has entailed the review of the conceptual and legal framework around the gender equality approach of the GADM Esmeraldas, the mapping of key actors and institutions related to Gender Equality in the GADM Esmeraldas, and actions aimed at aligning the roadmap to be followed for the elaboration of the Local Agenda for Gender Equality of the Municipality of Esmeraldas, indicating the mechanisms, key actors and cross-cutting axes of gender equality, in accordance with the competencies of the municipal government, and the definition of programmes and projects for its implementation.
The Guide for the elaboration of a Local Agenda for Gender Equality in the municipality of Esmeraldas can be downloaded here or consulted on Issuu.
(Photo by Andrés Medina on Unsplash)
