Ongoing project

Nouveau Québec Sans Frontières (NQSF)

Burkina FasoGuatemala

Women's and girls' rightsWomen’s Economic EmpowermentAdapting to climate change

Date

September 2021 - March 2024

Funding partner

$793,536 CAD

Ministère des Relations internationales et de la Francophonie (MRIF)

Impact for

Women and youth (especially young women)

Together with local partner organizations, the NQSF program designs initiatives whose aim is to develop new learning on economic and climate resilience. In Burkina Faso, our main partners are the Association Bon Samaritain pour l'Épanouissement de la Jeunesse (ABSEJ) and the Association pour le Développement et l'Intégration de la Jeunesse Rurale (ADIJR). In Guatemala, we work with Asociación La Cuerda and Asociación Cooperación Indígena para el Desarrollo Integral (COINDI).

Through innovative training courses, NQSF hopes to generate models that can be applied on a larger scale and in other communities. It also supports collaboration between women's organizations rooted in totally different realities. Taken together, these initiatives help to strengthen the economic power of women and young people in Guatemala and Burkina Faso.

Objectives

1 / 3

Develop and support green entrepreneurship

With the help of farm-schools, for example, young people and women affected by conflict develop new techniques and methods of vegetable and forestry production in symbiosis with environmental preservation (adapted seeds, solar energy, organic fertilizers, etc.). In addition to developing economic opportunities, these initiatives aim to make them actors in resilience and climate action.

Increase civic engagement and respect for human rights

In Guatemala, the projects supported aim to increase the social, economic and political participation of indigenous and rural women. Projects such as agro-ecological and craft fairs become opportunities to create open spaces for participation, providing an introduction to debate and public speaking.

Promote cultural preservation

Training and learning opportunities take into account linguistic and cultural contexts. The concept of cultural relevance is integrated into all activities in order to better reach target populations and take into account their living environment as well as their own vision of development.

Farmschools

Emergence of new models

NQSF aims to strengthen the economic power of young women in Guatemala and Burkina Faso, while supporting adaptation to climate change. The project includes the establishment of farm-schools dedicated to training young people and women involved in vegetable production. Emphasis will be placed on the adoption of new agricultural production techniques. In addition, the project includes the implementation of a rainwater reservoir system in an experimental field. This will become a training and exchange center for community groups interested in sustainable practices.

Agro-ecological and craft fairs will also be organized to support access to new financing models for indigenous women entrepreneurs running green businesses, such as the sale of products made from medicinal and ancestral plants. At the same time, fora-theaters will be organized to raise awareness of human rights, humanitarian law and community conflict management.