ADECIME – Asociación de Desarrollo Comunal e Integral de Mujeres Emprendedoras de Lucha por los Derechos Humanos, Políticos, Económicos, Sociales y Culturales*, was founded in 2010 in Salvador. This legally constituted organization brings together rural women who merged forces to fight for their rights in response to insufficient public resources.
DEFENDING WOMEN’S RIGHTS BY PROMOTING EQUALITY AND EQUITY
ADECIME is a rural women’s organization that emerged in the Chipilapa hamlet of Hacienda La Labor in Ahuachapán, Salvador.
Initially, their focus was on defending women’s rights, which is already an arduous mission given that these women address violence, traditional gender roles, sexism, and the lack of access to public services like education, health, and water, to name a few.
However, despite the absence of government funding, the women of ADECIME go way beyond this mission: they work voluntarily and with such commitment that they successfully lobbied the Salvadorian Ministry of Education to open a high school in the hamlet, which only offered elementary education until then.
Furthermore, the organization fiercely advocates for the protection of local natural resources. These volunteer women work with the Salvadorian Ministry of the Environment for the eco-management of a natural protected area to preserve forests and ausoles (hot springs) while also fighting to protect water springs in the community of Hacienda La Labor.
WOMEN AT THE SERVICE OF WOMEN
Since the beginning, ADECIME’s volunteers worked independently to improve women’s lives in the community. Although legally constituted, this association is still a community-based entity with no government funding. They lack a safe space and do not have the basic services and computer equipment essential to their work for the community.
This limits the women’s opportunities to get together and discuss ways to find support and consolidate their management, which would have helped serve more women.
WOMEN IN ACTION AT HACIENDA LA LABOR
ADECIME received funding from the Feminists in Action initiative with the support of OXFAM and under the sponsorship of AFD, which allowed them to strengthen their internal organization with essential services and equipment and build the technical skills of the community’s women.
ADECIME created a space where women can meet, debate, reflect on, and learn about their rights, especially regarding their economic rights and their sexual and reproductive health, while identifying and analyzing the different forms of violence and ways to prevent it. This grant has also helped women learn about other women’s organizations and institutions that share the same struggles and see the importance of coordinating for a greater impact.
“Feminists in Action allowed us to strengthen our technical skills to empower more women. We teach them farming techniques while educating them on their rights as women and talking about gender-based violence for a happy future.” Maura Díaz, Vice President of ADECIME.
*Communal and integral development association of women entrepreneurs for the defense of human, political, economic, social and cultural rights