Pro Mujer Inc.

12/18/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 12/18/2024 13:04

Pro Mujer promotes gender equality in Latin America’s green and blue economies through the Empower Innovation Challenge

Pro Mujer promotes gender equality in Latin America's green and blue economies through the Empower Innovation Challenge

Climate change widens the gender gap. The United Nations predicts that climate change will cause 236 million more women and girlsto suffer from hunger by 2030, twice as many as men (131 million). Furthermore, in the worst climate scenario, by 2050, it is projected that 13 million more women in Latin America will live in poverty and 20 million more will suffer from food insecurity.

Faced with this reality, Pro Mujer joined the Empower Innovation Challenge(EIC), a 3-year initiative funded by the U.S. Department of State that seeks to foster the growth of social enterprises in the green and blue economies in Latin America, integrating a gender perspective into the heart of their organizations through educational tools and a comprehensive design of personalized consulting.

Within the program, the Gender Knowledge Lab(GKL), Pro Mujer's consulting arm, will provide gender training to 24 micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs)participating in the EIC, equipping them with the technical knowledge, skills, and strategies that are essential to actively promote gender equality, empower women, and strengthen their role as catalysts for gender equality in their communities and throughout the region.

The participating enterprises are divided into 3 groups of 8 organizations each. Throughout 2024, the GKL trained the first two groups in the following areas:

  • Development of a tangible gender-issues tool or product
  • Two 1:1 sessions with the technical team to review the gender-equality diagnosis carried out by the organization
  • Three training sessions on gender equality

Ecotárcoles, one of the social enterprises benefiting from the program, was founded to regenerate coastal ecosystems through the circular economy. Speaking about the GKL training, Raquel Parrales, founder of Ecotárcoles, said: "On a personal level, I think it has allowed me to be a more resilient woman… furthermore, the truth is that it does make me proud; here in Costa Rica there are very few companies that have these directions or these lines of action.""When we were working on the commitment statement, I told the Pro Mujer team: How do we take this commitment further?"

ALLPA, a Peruvian non-profit organization, another participant in the initiative, also received support from Pro Mujer's GKL to integrate and strengthen the gender perspective in its operations. Nuri Maguiña, president of the organization, said: "This is a tool that will be useful to us institutionally; the various questions posed are very easy to understand and put into practice."

Through the EIC, Pro Mujer's GKL will continue consolidating the work carried out with the last group of organizations, developing advanced gender tools, and expanding the program's impact in new communities. The goal is to consolidate a replicable model that inspires more social enterprises to integrate the gender perspective as a driver of sustainable development.

To learn about the impact of the project, read the case studies here:

ALLPA (Peru) Case

Ecotárcoles (Costa Rica) Case

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