In October 2015, in collaboration with Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO), we announced the ‘Young Feminist Fellowship for Climate Justice’. The six-month fellowship is to support outreach and advocacy on engaging young feminists in the Women’s Global Call for Climate Justice. It was designed to support a young woman from the Global South already engaged in feminist movement building / resilience efforts across a range of justice issues.
Out of several applications received from all over the world, we finally found someone whose dedication and commitment towards the climate justice movement inspired us immensely. Introducing the young fellow:
Maria Alejandra (Majandra) Rodriguez Acha is an anthropologist, educator and activist from Peru. As a climate justice activist, she was part of the Peruvian delegation at Global Power Shift in Turkey (2013); the International Gathering of Youth for the Climate and Sustainability of Latin America and the Caribbean in Colombia (2014); the Social Pre-COP in Venezuela (November, 2014); was a member of the Youth Committee of the People’s Summit (Cumbre de los Pueblos) parallel to COP20; was a participant at the Bellagio Climate Futures Symposium (Italy, 2015) and a speaker on climate justice and intersectionality at the YFoEE Climate Camp and Power Shift Sweden (2015). She is co-founder and co-coordinator of TierrActiva Perú, an activist collective and national network that works towards “system change, not climate change,” thus seeking to highlight the linkages between all forms of oppression and the climate crisis.
Majandra has been actively involved in communicating the stories and key policy asks of the women rights and feminist activists within the larger climate justice movement in innovative and compelling ways. She also helped coordinate and facilitate at the Young Feminist Day during the Women and Gender Caucus at the UNFCCC daily gathering at COP21. You can read more about it here.
Two of FRIDA advisors recently blogged about their reflections as young feminists at the climate conference in Paris. Click here to read the post.
