Red Afro is a network that carries out advocacy work on behalf of Afrodescendant, Latin American, Caribbean and African women. It was created in 1992 and aims to promote the construction and consolidation of a women's movement that incorporates an ethnic, racial and gender perspective. It also aims to make visible the reality of discrimination and human rights violations that Afrodescendant and Indigenous women suffer in different socioeconomic, political and cultural fields. The activities undertaken by the organization are: (i) Advocacy with governmental and intergovernmental bodies for the formulation and implementation of public policies, (ii) Strive for compliance with international conventions and agreements that affirm the rights of Afro Caribbean, Afro Latin America and African Diaspora women, and (iii) Promote programs and projects that contribute to the overall development of the Afro Latin American, Afro Caribbean, and African Diaspora women.
Red Afro has been a local partner participating in the program More opportunities, More rights for youth in Guatemala and Nicaragua, financed by Kerk in Actie since 2016. The program is aimed to strengthening social leadership among indigenous youths in Guatemala and Nicaragua from a gender sensitive, rights-based and cultural pertinent approach. The program focuses in the following main lines of action: a) economic empowerment; b) lobby, advocacy and political participation; and c) violence prevention.
With their previous project implemented in the 2016-2017 Red Afro aimed to strengthen social leadership and multiply knowledge amongst indigenous and afrodescendant youths, while generating synergies with public and private social actors in Bilwi, a city located in the North Nicaraguan Caribbean Coast. Specifically, the project aimed to 1. generate conditions that promote good living in communities in Bilwi; and 2. promote social, political and legal recognition of the rights of indigenous and afrodescendent adolescents and youth.