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Tierra Nueva ONG – Guatemala
There are distances that cannot be measured in miles. For many rural women in Malacatancito, state institutions have seemed like a distant world for years — unknown, inaccessible, removed from their everyday realities. Knowing that mechanisms exist to protect their rights is very different from knowing how to use them, who to turn to, what to say, and how to say it.
On June 13, that wall began to crumble. Tierra Nueva ONG coordinated an institutional exchange event in which a delegation of women leaders made the journey to Huehuetenango to meet face to face — and in person — with representatives from the Human Rights Ombudsman’s Office (PDH), the Presidential Secretariat for Women (SEPREM), and UN Women.
It wasn’t a formal meeting. It was a real dialogue. At the PDH they learned how the institution works, what the pathways for assistance are, and how to file a complaint when rights are violated.
At the Departmental Governor’s Office they discussed public policies for gender equality, the role of Municipal Women’s Offices, and economic empowerment as the foundation of autonomy. And at every stop, the women brought their own questions, their own realities, their own fears and hopes.
What returned with them to Malacatancito was far more than information. “We gained so much knowledge about our rights — things we sometimes don’t know. It helps us know where to turn if a situation ever requires it.”
Eleven women left that day. Eleven knowledge multipliers came back — ready to guide others, accompany cases of vulnerability, and strengthen the organization of their communities. Because when a woman recognizes her worth, understands her rights, and knows where to go, it’s not just her life that changes: the present and future of everyone around her transforms as well.