Announcements
Huairou Commission and GROOTS International Stand in Solidarity with Rosemary Irusta Perez, Denounce Unjust Detainment.
Brooklyn, NY- The Huairou Commission and GROOTS International denounce the unjust detainment of 73-year old human rights defender, community leader and grandmother Rosemary Irusta Perez.
We demand her immediate release.
We stand beside Ms. Irusta Perez, a member of the Huairou Commission and leader and founder of Comunidad Maria Auxiliadora- Habitat para la Mujer, and herald her tireless commitment to advancing human rights, particularly amongst urban poor women in Cochabamba.
Ms. Irusta Perez has been a champion of women's empowerment and human rights for decades, leading the fight against domestic violence for 25 years and struggling for rights of the poor in human settlements. In 1999, she founded the Maria Auxiliadora community to provide safe and low-cost housing to women and their families.
Under the leadership of Ms. Irusta Perez, who sold her own home to contribute to this communal land, more than 1,000 families have signed on to purchase a plot in the Maria Auxiliadora community, and 360 families are currently living in built homes. These families have gained secure tenure, affordable homes, access to basic services, and a safe space for their children to play. Ms. Irusta Perez has enabled this community to be a model of communal ownership that enhances women's ability to build sustainable livelihoods and provides economic empowerment for the whole community, now and for future generations.
Rosemary Irusta Perez is a proven and trusted leader in her community. Her tireless advocacy for positive change for the poor, especially women, in her country is admirable. She is a human rights defender of the highest caliber. Her experience in successful partnership building is unique and she has much to teach other women who struggle with issues of poor human settlements.
For this reason, the Huairou Commission has invited and financed Rosemary Irusta Perez to participate in international policy forums and events in order to share this innovative model of communal ownership, and to empower women from around the world to replicate it. For instance, her valuable inputs contributed to Huairou Commission's Exchange on Land Titling, Housing, and Women's Access to Finance in Cochabamba in October 2010, co-sponsored by the Huairou Commission and Dutch organization Cordaid, which recognized the importance of building regional connections between grassroots women organizers across Latin America. Other events include, but are not limited to: the World Urban Forum 5 in Rio de Janeiro in 2010, the Global Summit on Grassroots Women's Leadership and Governance in New York City in 2011, the Andean Academy on Resilience and Disaster Risk Reduction in Lima in 2011, the AWID International Forum on Women's Rights and Development in Istanbul in 2012. In all of these cases, the Huairou Commission and/or GROOTS International invited Ms. Irusta Perez to attend and covered all costs, including registration, transportation and per diems.
The freedom of women worldwide is bound up in the freedom of each woman leader who dares to take a stand for the rights of all.
Signed,
Janice Peterson
Chair, Huairou Commission
Sandy Schilen
Global Facilitator, GROOTS International