Sustainability: A Woman's Work

Women are recognized as the focal point of the family and economic unit, particularly in the developing world. As such, their unrestricted participation is crucial to a sustainable future. MADRE is an international organization that recognizes the role that women must be allowed to play in the reduction of world-wide poverty through environmentally conscientious means. By collaborating with regional groups, MADRE works for the empowerment of women and girls, freeing them to be productive members of their communities through responsible practices in agriculture and commerce.

Created in 1983 by a group of US women hailing from diverse professional backgrounds, MADRE started as a solidarity organization exposing the effects of US foreign policy upon people abroad. It has since evolved into an international establishment that works for women’s rights to achieve economic, health and educational equality.

MADRE operates by partnering with local, women-run organizations. Presently, these sister organizations are located in countries throughout Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East. By working closely in such partnerships, MADRE ensures that its efforts are disseminated by -- and for -- those who are the most knowledgeable of the regions’ needs. Meanwhile, the local interest groups benefit from the resources and expertise of a global non-profit association.

MADRE’s philosophy coincides with that of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, that the role of local women, and their empowerment, is integral to the attainment of social and economic justice. Both within the household and in the immediate community, women are the primary providers of housing, healthcare, childcare, nutrition, education and emotional well-being.

The following example offers illustration in the way that MADRE works with local women to develop sustainable practices at the regional level:

Deforestation of the Panamanian jungles due to industrialized agriculture and mining, plays a direct role in climate change. Additionally, destruction of the rainforest threatens many indigenous populations that rely upon the habitat for their existence. These people, in turn, sustain the environment through traditional practices and knowledge. MADRE helps to preserve and protect the indigenous lifestyle by conducting workshops for women of the community, disseminating traditional knowledge and local practices as an option to environmental exploitation. Furthermore, MADRE educates these women about their legal and human rights entitling them to live and farm on their land.

Through its Panama project, and many others throughout the developing world,MADRE devotes crucial resources and knowledge to native women to protect their communities’ way of life for subsequent generations.

Photo courtesy MADRE.org