PSYDEH Awarded A Prize To Continue Strengthening Women as Public Leaders

PSYDEH has been awarded a 2017 prize by the Mexican federal agency Instituto Nacional de las Mujeres (INMUJERES) to (1) work pursuant to women partners demands, (2) continue 2016-2017 field progress, and (3) pursue completion of new elements of our two-year work plan.

Women partners demand different. In 2016, women and their organizations participated in Mexico’s electoral process by registering citizens to vote and running for office. Their experience was not good. They were not welcome simply because they were women and indigenous who spoke different languages.

PSYDEH continues progress built on 2016 challenges. Responding to women partners’ demands, we were awarded a prize from the Mexican federal Instituto Nacional Electoral (INE) to translate INE’s model for empowering equitable participation in Mexico’s electoral process in the Region (MEPE). Here, in late 2016 and 2017, 150+ women were trained on political and electoral rights. Regional women leaders helped produce a field manual promoting what was being learned in workshops. We produced the women’s third regional public forum, among other actions.

The new INMUJERES project elements reflect the strategy included in our multi-year program:

1. Use workshops to scale module learning into new communities for 100 indigenous women;
2. Inform and sensitize local male political leaders by (a) organizing 4 municipal level forums between women and 100 community “delegados” or community representatives reporting to local government leaders and (c) formulating a permanent information campaign (via paper and radio media) in the value of women participation in electoral politics, and
3. Organize the fourth indigenous women’s regional forum at which women will recommend development policies consistent with their regional development agenda.