Uniting women’s rights and environmental justice
Indigenous women are campaigning against extractive industries in Bolivia. Peasant women are fighting for their land rights in the Philippines. In Nigeria women and girls are mobilising against the destruction of a rainforest on which their livelihoods depend.
Mama Cash is proud to support these activists as part of the Global Alliance for Green and Gender Action (GAGGA). Our goal is to catalyse the collective power of the women’s rights and environmental justice movements to realise a world in which women can and do exercise their rights to water, food security and a clean, healthy, and safe environment. We aim to strengthen and unify the women’s rights and environmental justice movements.
Strategic partnership
GAGGA is a special joint initiative led by Fondo Centroamericano de Mujeres (the Central American Women’s Fund) in cooperation with Mama Cash and Both ENDS, an environmental justice organisation based in the Netherlands. GAGGA works closely with the Global Greengrants Fund, Prospera–International Network of Women’s Funds and World Resources Institute. The initiative involves funds and organisations in more than 30 countries in Latin America, Africa, Asia and Europe.
Launched in 2016, GAGGA is a strategic partner of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Grassroots activism
GAGGA focuses on supporting women and girls who are directly affected by the issues they are addressing. Those who are advocating on behalf of themselves and their communities. These grassroots groups and movements are playing a pivotal role in protecting important ecosystems like forests and wetlands, pastures and farmland, rivers and coastal zones. They are in the best position to advance women's human and environmental rights.
With grants and capacity building support, GAGGA strengthens these groups and movements to achieve their goals. To change the way decisions are made. To change policies and laws. To bring their demands to national and international decision-makers. And to hold decision-makers accountable. GAGGA strives to change both societies and institutions to ensure that women's rights to water, to food and a clean, healthy and safe environment are respected.
Promoting collaboration and exchange between the women’s rights and environmental justice movements is a key part of the initiative. GAGGA aims to persuade international actors – development aid donors, foundations and the private sector – to increase the amount of funding they provide for work at the nexus of women’s rights and environmental justice.