Case Study on Strengthening Women’s Leadership. Panama Joint Programme

Summary

This case studies a Joint Programme (JP) that was aimed at reducing gaps in safe water and sanitation public services by empowering citizens in excluded rural and indigenous areas in the Bisira and Kankintu communities in Panama. It also focused on empowering women by achieving a greater balance of power in the relations between women and men and served as a tool to allow women of these communities to enjoy better living conditions and recognize their rights in a participatory society.

The study contains a situational analysis of the role of women in the JP development, the historical role of ngabe women in the development of their communities, and of the participatory approach and assimilation that women and men had in the implementation of the program and how this changed their lives. It concludes with the challenges, lessons learned, best practices and suggestions for replication in order to strengthen female leadership in indigenous communities.