Programs

Programs by Country

MADRE sent support for a corn mill run by T'al Nan Koi, our sister organization in the rural highlands. The corn mill promotes food security, saves women many hours of hard work grinding corn by hand, and generates income for community improvement projects.

MADRE established a book corner, promoting literacy and education for children in Barcenas, a poor community on the outskirts of Guatemala City. Busy mothers-many of whom work long hours in nearby maquilas (sweatshops)- now have access to a much-needed source of child care while they take part in computer classes and human rights trainings that help them build skills and combat abuses in the factories where they work.
MADRE helped the Rigoberta Menchu Tum organization bring a legal challenge against right-wing politicians who shouted racist insults at Indigenous leader Rigoberta Menchu Tum during a court hearing in 2003. In the first-ever racial discrimination trial in Guatemala, all five accused were found guilty, setting an important precedent in a country where human rights activists have been abused with impunity.

MADRE supported young people from ELIGE, our sister organization in Mexico City, as they advocated for sexual rights and reproductive rights at the 49th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York.
MADRE helped our Chiapas sister organization, K'inal Antzetik, publish "In Our Words: A History of Mayan Women Weavers in the Chiapas Highlands."

In partnership with our sister organization Wangki Tangni, MADRE sent vegetable seeds, helped establish community seed banks, distributed seeds to families, and held trainings on sustainable planting and harvesting as part of Harvesting Hope, a MADRE program to fight hunger and promote food security and sovereignty in Indigenous communities.
Through our Helping Hands program, MADRE sent baby blankets and hygiene supplies to a maternity center on the North Atlantic Coast. Most women at the center are teenage mothers from rural areas who are experiencing high-risk pregnancies.
MADRE's Sisters Without Borders program sent a third-year medical student to assist doctors and nurses in Waspam's only public health clinic.
MADRE contributed to the development of Indigenous autonomous government and community organizations on the North Atlantic Coast through support for the renovation of Casa Museo, a museum and educational center provided computer and video equipment for the center's media training program for youth; and purchased a computer for the civil court, enabling the establishment of the court's first electronic record system.

MADRE enabled the participation of young women from our sister organization, LUNDU, in the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil, and sent support for LUNDU's cultural and artistic workshops addressing issues of racism for young Afro-Peruvians.
MADRE supported a one-month sculpture workshop for Indigenous youth from impoverished rural communities. The workshop, taught by professors from the Vermont Carving Studio and Sculpture Center utilizing local stone, will be followed by an exchange in which two Peruvian youth will travel to Vermont for an intensive summer workshop.

Thanks to all of you who gave generously to MADRE's tsunami relief program. INFORM, our partner organization in Sri Lanka, used your contributions to create a network of emergency health centers for women and their families.

MADRE staff, together with Marie Saint Cyr, a MADRE Board Member who directs an HIV/AIDS outreach and treatment program in New York City, visited the communities of our sister organizations in Kenya and Rwanda, bringing support for their women's health programs. MADRE held trainings on HIV/AIDS and women's human rights in rural and Indigenous communities. Many women told us that the trainings were life-altering: they returned to their communities with renewed energy and tools to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS and improve the daily lives of women and families.

MADRE sent support to Zanmi Lasante, our sister organization, to help supply and run innovative health programs, including an AIDS treatment program that provides anti-retroviral medication to hundreds of patients and a women's clinic that provides women with free pre- and post-natal care.

MADRE held a Mother's Day celebration in New York City with Yanar Mohammed, the director of our sister organization, the Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq. The event raised support for shelters for women fleeing domestic violence, on the rise since the US invasion.

MADRE participated in "Cuba Action Day," a national gathering of humanitarian and advocacy organizations working to end the US embargo against Cuba.

In March 2005, MADRE mobilized at the United Nations' review of government progress in meeting commitments to women's human rights outlined in the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action. During "Beijing +10," MADRE:

ponsored and facilitated a conference of the International Indigenous Women's Forum, at which 120 Indigenous women from around the world gathered to strategize about their participation in Beijing+10 and articulate Indigenous perspectives on sustainable development. At Beijing+10, the women won passage of one of the few resolutions adopted by Member States to advance Indigenous women's rights.
Facilitated a series of trainings for more than 60 Indigenous women in utilizing the UN system to advance Indigenous women's rights in their communities and internationally.
Developed a set of 10 position papers on key women's human rights issues. Click here for the full text.

MADRE also accredited representatives of the Cuban-American Defense League and the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission to testify at the 61st Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights.