Indigenous community members jointed representatives from local government, Teck Chile, and UN Women this past September to celebrate the opening of Centro Originarias in Iquique, Chile – a unique facility that will help to empower Indigenous women.
The first of its kind in South America, the Centro Originarias provides Indigenous women with tools and training to develop skills, build networks, and improve their well-being through economic opportunity. To date, more than 180 women from communities throughout the region have received training and 25 indigenous women have been trained as economic development facilitators.
"This is an historic commitment to Indigenous women who face high levels of discrimination, exclusion and violence. Despite the challenges they face, Indigenous women are a prominent example of agents of change in the global struggle for gender equality and the collective rights of their peoples,” said María Noel Vaeza, UN Women Regional Director for the Americas and the Caribbean.
“土著中心将帮助确保智利北部的土著妇女及其家庭有机会发展她们的职业，扩大她们的技能和知识；创造高质量生活和建设美好未来的机会，”Teck Chile社区管理和社会责任经理Herman Urrejola说。万博max手机
“We are especially proud that the Centre has been built in the Tarapacá Region, the region where we are building our Quebrada Blanca Phase 2 project," added Herman.
特克首先通过我们与联合国妇女署的伙伴关系参与了这个项目，创建了“原创阿里亚斯”计划。Originarias成立于2016年，旨在促进塔拉帕克土著妇女的赋权、领导能力以及更多的经济和社会参与á 智利北部地区。
Through the Originarias program, 70 women from the regions of Tarapacá, Antofagasta, Atacama and Coquimbo were engaged to identify the economic empowerment needs of Indigenous women
Based on their input, Teck made the commitment to build a center of excellence for the economic empowerment of Indigenous women that provides training courses and business development. The center will also provide access to opportunities for promotion, financing and marketing in coordination with public and private institutions. Since the program started, 90% of participants reported that their skills have improved.
"I had the opportunity to develop my sales techniques and business model, which helps to add value to my products," said Flora Reyes Mendez, who uses ancestral techniques to produce aromatic and medicinal plants in the oasis of Pica.
Centro Originarias anticipates that in 2020, 400 indigenous women will be trained in leadership and business, 400 will participate in workshops organized by trainers at the local level, and 600 women will use spaces for training and collaborative work.
Through our involvement with the Centro Originarias and the Originarias program, Teck supports the17 Sustainable Development Goals，主要是：SDG1贫困,SDG4 Quality education,SDG5 Gender equality,SDG8 Quality work and economic growth和SDG17 Partnerships.
Learn more about our approach to build strong and lasting relationships in theRelationships with Indigenous Peoplessection of our website.
