MUJERES UNIDAS PARA UN PUEBLO MEJOR
Mujeres Unidas (Women United for a Better Community) is a network of women primarily located within two neighborhoods of Lima, Peru. Mujeres Unidas encourages women to actively participate in bettering their communities in various ways. This group aims to increase awareness of gender sensitivity in the hopes of women continuing to overcome the barriers to participation that they currently face. As the name implies, these women are using their new-found empowerment to demand access to land tenure, access to basic services such as water, housing, education and healthcare. To ensure that these needs are met, members of Mujeres Unidas are appealing to their local governments to realize their demands through a participatory budget process. Government resources can then be mobilized to benefit of the women and their communities, by listening to the needs that the women identify. Mujeres Unidas works closely with and is supported by its partner NGO, Estrategia.
Mujeres Unidas is localized around its member’s homes and places of work, primarily in Patchacutic and Surco, two districts of Lima. The network encompasses a broad range of specific groups with varying goals ranging from milk glass groups to factory construction. Member groups include Vamasa, Concremat, Parque Ecologico, Las Delicias de Villa and Mujeres por el Habitat. The women of Pachacutec have built an ecological park called “Green Prairie”, which is located in an area of Pachacutec that has 250,000 people who are living in practically inhabitable conditions. The area is without water and a drainage system, it is contaminated, and there is a high level of crime, rape, and drug use. The program that these women have started demonstrates the necessity for “green areas” and has contributed to the improvement of their environment. The women have received help from their local government, who have added water and helped guard the park. Another member group of Mujeres Unidas utilizes skilled women, working as micro industrialists, who have produced different types of prefabricated components to be used in the construction of houses that will be able to sustain during earthquakes and allowed them to generate large revenue in sales.
Contact:
Mujeres Unidas C/O Estrategia
Luz Maria Sanchez
Calle Marques de torre tagle
161 Mina flores
Lima, Peru
T: 51 1 4 46 6727
E:Marilush@terra.com.pe
