Maya women moving towards building a full life
Organization: Moloj Kino’jib’al Mayib’ Ixoqib’ (Maya Women's Association MOLOJ)
Area: Leadership, voice-agency, and women’s political participation
Country: Guatemala
Indigenous women in Guatemala have limited access to participation in public life and decision-making spaces. From this reality, the organization MolojKino'jib'alMayib'Ixoqib '(MOLOJ), led by indigenous women, was born and works to contribute to empower the leadership of Maya women who exercise their individual and collective rights, as a contribution in the citizenship exercise from the value of equality. Through the project "Maya women moving towards building a full life," they want to achieve:
Strengthening the strategic alliance between civil society organizations and the international community, following the visit of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to Guatemala. This has promoted diverse spaces of political participation free of violence, linked in the defense of individual rights and collectives of Maya women and indigenous peoples.
Coordination has been initiated with the Supreme Electoral Court for the development of Maya women's political education focused on the identity and ideology of the Maya people and the political training plan has been built collectively, among technical staff and the Association's Board of Directors.
In coordination with the Alliance of Indigenous Women and Women for Access to Justice, MOLOJ delivered the proposal to reform Article 212 bis of the Electoral Law and Political Parties to the plenum of Magistrates of the Supreme Electoral Court. In particular, the complaint was accompanied by a condemnation of the criminalization of several leaders, who were defending land and territory. In addition, a series of recommendations and strategic actions were presented to the Special Rapporteur of Indigenous Peoples on the latent problems that indigenous women in Guatemala are facing.
“The young Maya women who participated in the program’s training spaces have now become the facilitators of the current processes, promoting the sustainability of the different projects, opening spaces for participation and advocacy, and the continuity of the worldview of our peoples, promoting Mayan values and principles.”
