The Women 4 Women Cohort: 2026-2027

My motivation to join this network comes from my commitment to strengthening women's leadership and their land rights. Through my fieldwork with Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and women farmers, I have seen that although women play a crucial role in agriculture, they often lack secure land ownership and decision-making power. This reflects a wider global challenge. At the same time, several countries are advancing women's land rights through legal reforms and leadership initiatives. As ILC is a global platform on land governance, I see this as an opportunity to connect my grassroots experience with global learning and contribute toward more inclusive and equitable land systems.

I see W4W as a space where practice-based insights can be shared, sharpened, and collectively taken forward. I do not see this as a two-year engagement, but as a lifelong connection-one rooted in solidarity, shared struggle, and sustained commitment to women's land rights globally.

Through Women4Women, I hope to both contribute to and strengthen a community of practice that advances gender-just land governance in tangible and lasting ways. I come from a Dhangar, a sheep-rearing community in Pune, Maharashtra, India. I am a first-generation learner in my family. I extensively worked with pastoral communities at different levels, writing articles and research papers, and facilitating pastoral women for recognition of their unique traditional knowledge and skills.. Currently, I serve as a steering committee member of SAPA (South Asian Pastoral Alliance).

I join the Women 4 Women network because I believe it's important to learn from other women who understand the importance of land rights and gender justice. I want to learn and grow with women from different regions and similar backgrounds who are facing similar challenges. This network will be a place where I can share my experiences and learn from those who have walked this path before me.

I am glad that Women for Women guarantees 15% representation of pastoralist women in celebration of the IYRP 2026. As a pastoralist woman advocate, I want to learn from other pastoralist women leaders about leadership, advocacy, and solidarity to strengthen my work. In return, I will share on land rights and promote gender equity in pastoral communities. This mutual exchange will empower me to advance pastoralist women's voices globally.

I join the Women for Women network because I am committed to ensuring that the voices of women who are often overlooked, women fisherfolk, farmers, indigenous women, girls, and migrant workers, are heard and valued. Through my work in the community, I have helped women organize, access resources, and advocate for their rights, transforming challenges into real, tangible change. By joining this network, I aim to not only share these experiences but also learn from other women leaders to amplify our collective voice, influence policies, and create sustainable opportunities that give women the visibility and power they deserve.

Participating in the Women 4 Women network is a crucial opportunity to strengthen women's capacity, networks, and leadership across various social movements and community development spaces, particularly the Agrarian Reform Movement. Involvement in Women 4 Women would also provide an opportunity to bring the perspectives and experiences of women in grassroots communities-including peasants union, fishers, indigenous peoples, women, and youth-into a global learning space.

These experiences are crucial for collective exchange and enrich discussions on how to strengthen women's roles and leadership at the community and organizational levels.

My motivation to join the W4W Network is driven by the opportunity to learn more about the Commons globally, while contributing through my skill of creative communication. I see this as an opportunity to grow professionally, and a space to work closely with a strong team that is already expertising in these issues, and help shape narratives that highlight collective action and community stewardship from local to global platforms.

I have experienced ILC as a unique amalgamator of local knowledge with global practices and strategies. What I value deeply is how ILC creates a sisterhood beyond borders-grounded, political, and practice-oriented-which is something I am particularly drawn to.

My motivation to join the Women 4 Women Mentoring and Solidarity Network comes from over two decades of work with women on land and natural resource rights, both at the grassroots and policy levels.

The intersectional realities that shape women's access to land, livelihoods, and decision-making have been an important area of reflection and engagement in my work. I see mentoring as a relationship of solidarity rather than hierarchy. I look forward to a space of mutual exchange where we can share strategies that work, reflect on failures to expect, the patience such work requires, and the importance of building evidence for policy engagement, while learning from each other's experiences and contexts to strengthen women's rights and leadership.

I am joining the Women 4 Women Network because I believe in the power of collaboration, mentorship, and shared learning among women working for social change. Through my work, I have seen how women often face barriers in leadership and decision-making spaces, and I am motivated to be part of a network that supports women's empowerment and collective growth.

I hope to learn from the diverse experiences of other members, strengthen my leadership skills, and contribute by sharing my own experiences and supporting initiatives that amplify women's voices and create more inclusive opportunities in our communities.

With years of hands-on experience, I developed a deeper understanding on Gender, Women's Rights, Feminism, Feminist Agroecology, Community-based Institutions and Women's Leadership Development. To dive deep into learning praxis in all these topics and to have regular discourse on these, I am keen to engage with this network and be an efficient Gender Advocate.

Joining Women 4 Women (W4W) is a strategic step to strengthen women's role in the struggle for agrarian reform and social justice. W4W is not just a networking space, but a platform for consolidating the capacity, leadership, and solidarity of women across sectors. By strengthening gender analysis, advocacy skills, and collective leadership, women can assume strategic positions in decision-making at the grassroots and national levels. Furthermore, W4W strengthens cross-community and regional networks among women in ILC. This network is crucial for mutual learning, sharing experiences of struggle, and building political solidarity from the grassroots. W4W serves as a means to strengthen the grassroots movement, ensuring that women's voices, needs, and experiences are truly part of the agrarian reform strategy. Eventually, the involvement in W4W increases the organization's overall capacity. When women have the space to learn, take leadership, and gain influence, the quality of programs in the field becomes more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable. Therefore, joining Women 4 Women (W4W) is not only important for women's personal development but also crucial for strengthening the KPA agrarian reform movement collectively.

My work revolves around facilitating collective processes related to food systems and land management, with an emphasis on gender issues. I have been involved in groups and platforms for a long time, and have no problem speaking on behalf of these networks. However, I am inspired by women in other regions who are able to do this communication with conviction and fearless passion.

I am attracted by this space because I hope to absorb some of this passion and fearlessness. But experience has taught me that these networks acquire a life of their own, and am very much convinced that I will be transformed in ways that I cannot imagine now. I am very much looking forward to that!

I join Women 4 Women to share field-based experience, strengthen collaboration, and support inclusive and sustainable approaches to pastoral livelihoods and rangeland governance, with a particular focus on women and youth.

I work in an organization that supports women from rural areas and I am actively involved in empowering women through education and community initiatives. I see the Woman for Woman network as an opportunity to strengthen my skills and knowledge in order to contribute more effectively to women's empowerment and inclusion.

I am joining W4W to promote and defend the rights of the Amazigh people, the indigenous people of Morocco, to their lands, territories and natural resources, whilst empowering women through the recognition of and effective access to their land rights and natural resources.

I have been working since 2006 in land and property rights, mainly in Albania and Kosovo. I focus on legalisation of informal buildings, restitution and compensation of land and immovables, privatisation in post socialist/communist countries, systematic registration (cadastre), dispute resolution in post conflict settings especially dealing with war widows, court monitoring of cases of ownership trials, communication campaigns to raise awareness of property rights and the importance of inheritance process, joint spouse ownership and implementation of nation-wide media campaigns targeting women and youth.

I am currently project manager of PIAKOS project financed by the World Bank and implemented by Kosovo NGO, Advocacy Training and Resource Center (ATRC). The project’s mandate is rather comprehensive touching on most topics and areas I mentioned, including field work, capacity building of legal professions, etc. ATRC is in the civil society of KOSOVO since 2001. Our latest mandate, where I also contribute, is to offer free legal aid to vulnerable groups.

As a youth representative, I am deeply committed to advancing inclusive and sustainable development, particularly in the areas of pastoral livelihoods and rangeland governance.My engagement with Women 4 Women is driven by a strong desire to bring forward field-based experiences, contribute to meaningful dialogue, and strengthen collaboration among stakeholders working to empower women and youth.Through my work I have been actively involved in initiatives focused on education, capacity building, and community empowerment. I see the Women 4 Women training as a valuable opportunity to further develop my skills, deepen my understanding, and exchange knowledge with like-minded professionals. Ultimately, my goal is to bridge local realities with broader policy and development frameworks, ensuring that women and youth especially in rural and pastoral contexts are not only included but actively leading change.

Being part of this network offers an opportunity to share experiences, lessons learnt and tools that enable us to grow both personally and as a community. I am driven by the conviction that when women organise themselves, listen to one another and support one another, this leads to genuine and sustainable empowerment.

I am driven by a deep conviction to understand the material and cultural conditions faced by women across the globe. As a promoter of local networks in the Gran Chaco, I seek not only to learn from other experiences, but also to co-create ecofeminist narratives and context-specific practices that strengthen the fight for rights and the autonomy of our communities

I am coordinating the Amelia Quiñonez National Women’s Training Programme at the Eloy Alfaro National Peasants’ Coordination Committee, and I would like to learn and share more so that, drawing on these experiences, we can strengthen our organisational structures.

As women today, we need to keep moving forward and paving the way for fairness and equality. I would like to learn from women all over the world how these paths—which in some countries are blocked—can be set in motion, given direction, and fought for. I know it’s not easy, but you always have to start somewhere: by educating and learning. My motivation for joining W4W is to one day become a leader who helps girls and teenagers not to give up or remain silent in the face of injustice. I hope to learn a great deal!

I am an indigenous woman from the K’iche’ Maya people of Guatemala. I am part of the political leadership of the CODECA movement. In our movement, we are fighting to rebuild ‘Buen Vivir’ for everyone. In the CODECA Women’s Network, we are committed to empowering women’s socio-political leadership so that we can become active participants and role models in the struggles for structural change, moving towards a Good Life for everyone.

I am joining the Women for Women network as a young leader committed to gender justice, youth participation and inclusive advocacy in rural and agricultural development. I currently serve as Deputy Advocacy Coordinator at YPARD Peru and am involved in driving forward the Manka Warmis project. Through Manka Warmis, I have supported women in reclaiming their role as guardians of the territory, the land and food, tackling structural gender gaps linked to access to resources, recognition and participation in decision-making spaces.

This experience has reaffirmed my conviction that processes of territorial transformation are only possible when women have safe spaces for learning, mutual support and collective leadership. For me, Women for Women represents a key space for mentorship and solidarity to strengthen my advocacy skills, exchange learning with women from other territories and contribute, from a feminist and youth perspective, to the development of collective actions that deepen gender justice within the ILC network.

I am joining this network to learn about the life experiences of various women leaders who, from within their communities, are taking action to defend their land. For me, these spaces for mutual support amongst women not only provide emotional support, but also enable the exchange of knowledge and lessons learnt throughout their life journeys. It is important that these experiences are made visible, shared and reflected upon collectively. In the current context, marked by setbacks in women’s rights and environmental protection, training and support spaces such as this are more necessary than ever.

I am a woman from a rural background who strives to grow day by day alongside my fellow women in the community and organisation. I also aim to pass on the insights and knowledge we have gained to the entire collective of women in the American Chaco. Being part of this network creates opportunities and provides the tools for such growth. That is why I believe it is essential that we participate, so that we can learn from and share our experiences of our territories.

I am joining the mentoring network to continue building on my knowledge, to meet and exchange ideas with colleagues from other regions, and to learn about new community work tools that I can apply and put into practice in my own community and organisation

I am a woman dedicated to life and to those who defend it; my work is a personal commitment to give back to the communities and their defenders, directly or indirectly, what they have given me. I am keen to amplify the voices of the territories in spaces of political advocacy by coordinating the various efforts that organisations have been undertaking for over 15 years, and even longer, within a collective local, national and international network which, rather than competing for resources amongst themselves, builds territorial, national and international agendas so that the positive impact increases in intensity and scope for communities, communes, peoples and nationalities. At the same time, I would like to work with everyone to build a collective and community-based mental health network to support women defenders of land and territory and their families.

From the Andes and the Amazon, a Quechua-speaking native of Cusco, an anthropologist by profession, an environmental activist and an ecofeminist. My motivation for joining the Women’s Coalition is to strengthen my leadership from a feminist, intercultural and climate perspective, learning from other women who inspire and challenge patriarchal structures. Through their mentorship, I aim to strengthen my ability to influence decision-making spaces, support other young women, and actively contribute to the social and environmental transformation of my communities.

I am joining the network to build on the work we began with the ILC two years ago. In this new phase, I hope that together we can achieve even better results, further strengthening the bonds that unite us when we come together with purpose and commitment to the well-being of our women, girls and communities, with a regional and global reach, as part of a better world – one that is both possible and necessary.

I am joining to build a pathway of learning and dialogue on nutritional knowledge with women from the region and around the world. I wish to share with other women the advocacy tools I have incorporated throughout my career as a feminist activist in the region, as a social worker, a popular and intercultural educator, as a former ILC fellow, as a member of the ILC’s LAC Youth Network, and as a member of outreach and research teams at the National University of Córdoba, Argentina. I also consider it very valuable to continue drawing on the knowledge, experiences and dreams of women leaders from the region and around the world, because these – when put into practice – transform reality towards social justice and good living.