Mesoamerican women trained in financial education workshop
To provide the participants with administrative and financial knowledge, the Mesoamerican Alliance of Peoples and Forests (AMPB), in collaboration with the Coordinator of Territorial Women Leaders of Mesoamerica (CMLT), held the first financial education workshop for women entrepreneurs in the Mesoamerican region.
This regional workshop was held before the launching of the Mesoamerican Fund for Strengthening the Entrepreneurial Capacities of Indigenous Women and Community-Based Organizations (FOMUJER), with the participation of women from indigenous peoples and local communities in the region, delegates from the CMLT, and their support teams at the local level.
María Cristina Feliciano, a member of Mayangna Nation in Nicaragua, mentioned that it was very important to learn about financial education and accounting, as well as how to make a balance sheet of expenses and expenditures. “We learned the use of accounting, which has to do with the organization, suppliers, the state, topics that we did not handle, it was very interesting”. Feliciano added that all the knowledge acquired will be of great help to transmit to other women so that they can put it into practice.
The workshop was held in virtual mode. On the first day, topics related to the importance of financial education, personal finances, the value of money, pressures, and financial decisions were addressed. It also included management concepts for non-financiers, project budgeting, and basic notions of donor reporting.
The second day focused on management in the community organization, the importance of conscientious budgeting, management, and proper reporting to build transparent organizations capable of developing projects.
“The workshop was very productive for me because I learned a lot and understood some concepts that were not clear to me in terms of finances, nor did I know how important it was to have this type of work to be done in the organizations to be clear about economic financing, expenses, and all these project proposals,” said Florita Jiménez of the Bribri – Cabécar Indigenous Network (RIBCA) of Costa Rica.
With these activities, the Coordinator of Territorial Women Leaders seeks to enrich the participants with knowledge and skills that will allow them to grow both with their FOMUJER projects and in their personal lives. Also, to reflect on the importance of planning with financial resources.
About FOMUJER
Thanks to the CMLT, the Mesoamerican Fund for Strengthening the Entrepreneurial Capacities of Indigenous Women and Community-Based Organizations (FOMUJER) was created as an opportunity to bring flexible financing to the territories, support entrepreneurial activities and women’s political participation.
These initiatives symbolize hope for women to access economic resources and develop programs that address the broad agenda of issues affecting women in indigenous peoples and local communities.
