Vital Voices Network member Danielle Saint-Lot was recently interviewed by NPR’s Tony Cox on Talk of the Nation. Danielle is a co-founder of our Haiti chapter, Femmes en Democratie. During her interview, she spoke about the critical role that women must play in the reconstruction of her home country. With elections in the near future, Danielle says that women must vie for seats in the national congress.

“[women] have to be the ones rebuilding the country. And there’s, you know, quite a few groups of young women, emerging leaders that are going to run. For the moment, our organization, Femmes en Democratie, we’re supporting 50 women candidates for Congress.”

Listen to the full interview or read the transcript on NPR: “The Role Of Women In Rebuilding Haiti.”

Kamla Persad-Bissessar has been elected the first female prime minister in Trinidad and Tobago. The 58-year-old “shattered the glass ceiling” in a “landslide win,” reports the Miami Herald. Read the full story.

Alyse Nelson, President and CEO of Vital Voices, speaks to a group of women entrepreneurs

Over the last day and a half, a group of women entrepreneurs, all of whom lead businesses that are ready to export to the United States, have gathered in Miami, FL to network, attend capacity-building sessions, and speak with potential buyers for their products. The program marks the beginning of a new partnership between Vital Voices and FedEx. Titled Building Businesses Across Borders: A Training Program for Women Entrepreneurs, the program invited trade-ready women entrepreneurs from across Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) to participate in a two-day training seminar and become part of the Vital Voices global women’s network.

While the program opened with a cocktail reception on Monday, it began in earnest on Tuesday. Following introductions, participants heard from Gina Adams, Corporate Vice President of Government Affairs at FedEx, who spoke about her progression up the corporate ladder and the unique challenges faced by women in business. The following sessions addressed negotiation techniques, procurement best practices, and the do’s and don’ts of approaching a company. The day ended with the mentoring session, done in partnership with the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO).

For many participants, meeting with other women business owners, both from across the region and from Miami, represented a valuable opportunity to learn from others’ experiences and to gain insight into the different strategies that can be pursued when looking to export to the US. Without a doubt, all the women who attended have dynamic businesses and a vision for promoting their growth. Different countries present different challenges, and understanding each entrepreneur’s unique context will be key as we continue to support their efforts.

As we prepare to launch the LAC Businesswomen’s Network, we are reminded of the need for a platform on which women entrepreneurs from the region can connect with each other. The region is home to countries ranging from small island nations, such as The Bahamas and Haiti, to large, developed economies, such as Argentina and Brazil. Even within these sub-regions, however, domestic barriers, ranging from legal requirements to transportation costs, vary considerably. Because of this, information sharing will be an essential component of the network.

On Wednesday, the program continued with a session on leadership by Vital Voices President and CEO Alyse Nelson, whose presentation prompted participants to define leadership and identify their personal leadership qualities.

“All of you are here because you are emerging business leaders, but as you all look around the room, you are also all having a great impact on your society, which is truly what great leadership is about,” she said.

Her session was followed by a presentation by a representative from US Commercial Services. The day concluded with a trade fair where the entrepreneurs were able to speak with potential buyers of their products.

A pilot program, Building Businesses Across Borders showed the promise that trade fairs represent for women entrepreneurs with small- and medium-sized enterprises. In the coming years, we hope to replicate such programs in different countries from Latin America, making it local and more accessible to different women. Moving forward, as women’s entrepreneurship continues to gain ground as a viable development strategy in countries around the world, it is clear that there is a need to connect such emerging women business leaders, identify their most pressing necessities, and continue our work to support them.

Yesterday, an exciting new initiative and partnership between Vital Voices and FedEx was launched with the opening cocktail reception of a pilot seminar and program in Miami, FL, Building Business Across Borders: A Trading Program for Women Entrepreneurs. The program, which will continue through today and Wednesday, is aimed towards women entrepreneurs from Latin America and the Caribbean who are export/trade ready and who wish to build their trade capacity and connect with potential U.S. markets.

Participants represent a variety of countries, from Argentina and Brazil, to the Bahamas and Haiti, to El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama. Their products, from Phelicia Dell’s award-winning artisan handbags to Wendy Martinez’s naturally-flavored liquors, one of two brands made in all of Honduras, to Lorena Piazze’s tempered glass, demonstrate the wide range of industries in which women excel and defy assumptions about what constitutes a “woman’s business”.

Undeniably, the women who have come to Miami embody the entrepreneurial spirit and social responsibility that exemplify women business owners around the world: a deep desire to prosper and, in doing so, to help their communities.

The reception took place at the Ritz-Carlton Coconut Grove, site of the program, and featured remarks by Alyse Nelson, President and CEO of Vital Voices and Gina Adams, Corporate Vice President of Government Affairs at Federal Express. Ms. Nelson addressed the strategic value of investing in women entrepreneurs and the great reservoir of potential growth women’s businesses represent.

We welcomed representatives from FedEx, the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) chapter in Miami, and the Vital Voices network, among others. Amid food and drinks, entrepreneurs, supporters, and colleagues were able to connect and mingle while participants showed attendees the high caliber of their businesses through product displays.

The evening was an intimate and exciting beginning to a dynamic couple of days. Today, the program will focus on capacity building on areas such as procurement and negotiation and will conclude with a mentoring session with NAWBO members.

On February 8, Laura Chinchilla was declared winner in the presidential election in Costa Rica, becoming the first female president of the nation and the fifth in Latin America. Winning 47 percent of the votes counted, Chinchilla avoids a potential run-off. In her acceptance speech, Chinchilla said to the gathered crowd:

“Thank you, Costa Rica. It’s certainly a moment of happiness, but above all of humility.”

Chinchilla, a former vice president, follows in the footsteps of female presidents in Chile, Argentina, Panama and Nicaragua. Her victory comes after various efforts in recent years to promote change and increase women’s political representation in the region.

Laura Chinchilla voted first female president of Costa Rica -TimesOnline

Laura Chinchilla to be Costa Rica’s first female leader -BBC

In her keynote address at the 58th National Prayer Breakfast on February 4, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke about the current crisis in Haiti, where tent cities, “food lines and makeshift hospitals” are evidence of the urgent needs of millions of people.

“When I think about the horrible catastrophe that has struck Haiti, I am both saddened but also spurred.”

Secretary Clinton went on to say that the people of Haiti will need assistance and committed partners in reconstruction efforts long after the memory of the crisis fades and news cameras move away.

Read Secretary Clinton’s full remarks: Keynote Address at the 58th National Prayer Breakfast - U.S. Department of State

President Evo Morales begun his second term by swearing in Bolivia’s first cabinet to be comprised of an equal number of men and women. Bolivia now joins Chile as the second country in Latin America to have a cabinet with gender parity, reports IPS News. Monica Novillo, head of advocacy and lobbying for the Coordinadora de la Mujer, a Bolivian coalition of more than 200 women’s organizations, told IPS that the swearing in represents the fulfillment of a promise made by Morales following the adoption of a new constitution in February of 2009. The 10 women in the 20-member cabinet include “singers, lawyers, activists and social leaders, economists, doctors and workers.” In his remarks, Morales also noted that Bolivia now has its first female Minister of Labor.

This development is a testament to the effort and “long-time demand[s]” of the women’s movement in Bolivia, says Novillo. The proportion of women representatives in parliament is also far improved, doubling in percentage share from 14 to 28 percent (46 out of 166) of all seats from the previous Congress. When he announced his new cabinet, Morales said “that Bolivian women’s social conscience, patriotism and dedication to defending national interests, as well as the respect he feels for his mother, sister and daughter, were factors in his decision to break with a long history of discrimination against women.”

Bolivia: Unprecedented Gender Parity in Cabinet -IPS News

Among the thousands lost following the devastating earthquake that struck Port Au Prince on January 12 are three renowned women’s rights activists, Myriam Merlet, Magalie Marcelin, and Anne Marie Coriolan. These women, CNN reports, were “founders of three of the country’s most important advocacy organizations working on behalf of women and girls.” Their deaths leave the women’s movement in Haiti in mourning for three remarkable advocates who devoted themselves to furthering women’s rights in their nation.

Myriam Merlet was a published author and dedicated advocate who was “committed to the process of social and political change in Haiti,” according to V-Day, the anti-violence organization founded by Eve Ensler. Merlet worked to introduce the V-Day movement to Haiti, courageously shining a light on gender-based violence and promoting equality for women and girls. As founder of Enfofamn, Merlet raised awareness about women through the media, documenting their stories. She will be remembered for her tireless spirit, poignantly captured in her own words:

“I look at things through the eyes of women, very conscious of the roles, limitations, and stereotypes imposed on us. Everything I do is informed by that consciousness. So I want to get to a different concept and application of power than the one that keeps women from attaining their full potential…The basis of my work with women is to open them up to other things, give them new tools, give them new capabilities…give women the opportunity to grow…”

Magalie Marcelin was an actress and lawyer who founded Kay Famn, a women’s rights organization that provides shelter and offers microloan services to survivors of domestic violence. Marcelin was passionate in her work as an advocate, calling attention to the inequality and prejudice that women face daily in her community. In public awareness-raising campaigns, stickers are marked with the image of a drum, which Marcelin once explained:

“It’s very symbolic in the Haitian cultural imagination. The sound of the drum is the sound of freedom, it’s the sound of slaves breaking with slavery.”

Ann Marie Coriolan served as a top advisor to Haiti’s Ministry for Gender and the Rights of Women and founded advocacy organization Solidarite Fanm Ayisyen (Solidarity with Haitian Women SOFA). As a political organizer, Coriolan was a leader in a movement that “helped bring rape…to the forefront of Haitian courts,” according to CNN. Before her efforts, and those of fellow women’s activists, rape was regarded only as a “crime of passion” in Haiti. Coriolan’s daughter, Wani Thelusmon Coriolan, said of her mother:

“She loved her country. She never stopped believing in Haiti. She said that when you have a dream you have to fight for it. She wanted women to have equal rights. She wanted women to hold their heads high.”

Women’s movement mourns death of 3 Haitian leaders

Danielle Saint-Lot, Vital Voices Network member and co-founder of our chapter in Haiti, Femmes en Democratie, offers her first-hand account of current conditions and calls for assistance in the post below:

The following is a post written by Breese McIlvaine, a former intern with the Vital Voices Latin America & the Caribbean Program.

Small agricultural projects are developing around the world that empower marginalized populations, create livelihoods, improve health, and help the environment.

All around the world, women face societal restrictions that inhibit their social and economic independence and rights. Many traditionally lack the opportunity to create a livelihood of their own, and as a result, rely on male family members or husband. Their dependence on others can make women vulnerable to abuse of all kinds, including verbal, physical, or sexual. They lose their independence and lack equal rights.

Historically, the role of women in many cultures throughout the world has been to tend to the home, but also the garden and the family’s crops. Therefore, developing women’s capacity to sustainably grow their own food and earn an income from the surplus has proved a successful way to alleviate poverty, improve health, and improve women’s self esteem and social status in their communities as they become more independent and confident.

In the provincial town of Natagaima, Colombia, a local NGO called Manos de Mujer (Women’s Hands) started a project in 2001 that engages local women in cultivating plants that are compatible with the local ecosystem using natural techniques without pesticides or weed-killers. The women are diverse – white, mestizo, and Pijao (the indigenous tribe of the region) come from many villages, towns, and Pijao reservations in the area. The region that used to be mostly tropical dry rainforest has over time become increasingly more desert-like due to unsustainable agricultural methods, deforestation, and cattle ranching. The project has not only given the women a livelihood and self-sufficiency they are proud of, it has also helped restore the ecosystem that had been destroyed.

Such projects not only serve to help women in rural areas. Similar projects are undertaken in cities around the world, several in Africa. In Zimbabwe, urban gardens help women and their communities survive while facing increasingly difficult economic, political, and health circumstances. In Ethiopia, a USAID-funded urban garden project works with HIV/AIDS-positive women and their children to help provide them with sustenance, incomes, and to help build and incorporate them in their communities.

Some of the positive effects of small agricultural projects such as these include improving gender equality, poverty alleviation, helping to address health issues such as malnutrition, and restoration of ecosystems. The communities and countries where they take place benefit from the easing of tensions resulting from the problems addressed by the project, and the increased productivity of its population.

“Colombia: Women Empowered by restoring desertified land,” by Helda Martinez.

“POVERTY-ZIMBABWE: Gardening Lifeline for Urban Women,” by Ignatius Banda.

“Beyond Urban Gardens: Meeting The Growing Needs Of Ethiopia’s Urban Population.”