Economic recovery and sustainable livelihoods for Waorani women in the Ecuadorian Amazon, promoting ESCER and gender equity.

  • Country: Ecuador.
  • Location: Ecuadorian Amazon.
  • Duration: January to December 2023.
  • Participants: 10 AMWAE directors, 100 women from the community of Toñampare and nearby population centers, and 30 men from the members' families.
  • Area of specialization: Training and entrepreneurship, Rural market development.

Starting point

The Waorani are an indigenous nationality of the Ecuadorian Amazon. At present, they have approximately 3,000 inhabitants settled in the Amazonian provinces of Pastaza, Napo and Orellana, where they are distributed in 35 communities occupying ancestral territories. They were originally a nomadic ethnic group that was contacted in the mid-20th century, following the arrival of the oil industry in the Amazon, and has undergone a process of sedentarisation and gradual westernization. This has led to a situation of high gaps of economic and social inequality and the search for alternatives of sustainable economic development.

Objective

The project’s objective is to strengthen the business of AMWAE (Association of Waorani Women of the Equatorial Amazon) in the marketing of handicrafts, as one of the sustainable alternatives for generating income that prevents deforestation and the hunting of native species. All of this while promoting ESCR and gender equality in their communities.

What is the project about

In this context, the CODESPA project, in collaboration with ACCD (Catalan Agency for Development Cooperation), seeks to support AMWAE. This is a local association focused on improving the living conditions of Waorani women, both in terms of access to economic, social, cultural, and environmental rights (ESCER) and improving their position in Ecuadorian society in general.

The project will include technical training for participating women to strengthen their handicraft marketing ventures. It covers everything from business management, marketing, digitalization, and social media for young people, providing training and generational renewal. For example, AMWAE has its own website where it markets products made by Waorani women.

At the same time, training sessions on ESCR will be implemented, giving special priority to issues facing women and focusing on gender equity, a culture of peace and conflict resolution, and sexual and reproductive health.

Furthermore, to improve the positioning and acceptance of the Waorani in Ecuadorian society, human rights training and public awareness campaigns will be conducted, both with a gender, inclusion, and interethnic focus.
This project, which began in January 2023 and will end in December of the same year, will work with various groups to achieve the established objectives:

– On the one hand, with 10 AMWAE directors, to strengthen the leadership of the institution and as a women’s association vis-à-vis the other groups and stakeholders with whom they interact.
– Also benefiting will be 100 women from the community of Toñampare and surrounding towns, AMWAE members, who work in handicraft production. Like their directors, the members need to strengthen their leadership in the communities as promoters of employment alternatives and ecosystem conservation, as well as a new culture of peace in the communities.
– Finally, 30 men from the members’ families will participate in ESCR workshops as part of awareness-raising campaigns with a gender equity focus.

As Elena Tocaride, a 42-year-old health leader from AMWAE and a resident of Kiwaeo, tells us:
“I would like our land to be better cared for, because it is currently being destroyed. I would like my community, my children, and my grandchildren to be able to live with the same things I have lived with: the trees, rivers, and animals that my land has always had.”

Entities that support this project