Ciego de Avila, Cuba.- Supporting women’s rights and empowerment is currently one of the main actions being taken by the Building Coastal Resilience international project, developed in communities in Cuba’s central region.

The program, which involves the town of Punta Alegre, on the northern coast of Ciego de Avila, aims to seek natural solutions for adaptation to climate change in this vulnerable area, the coordinator of the initiative in the territory, Maria del Carmen Olivera, said.

She added that one of the goals is to stimulate the incorporation of women to productive tasks and their performance in administrative functions, so that they can demonstrate their decision-making skills and thus contribute to local development, in order to improve people’s quality of life.

The project, which is financed by the European Union’s Global Climate Change Alliance and implemented by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), seeks to strengthen disaster risk reduction at the local level and adapt socioeconomic development plans of sectors and the government to weather conditions.

The initiative is also aimed at training people with responsible solutions to achieve a change in the perception of women’s figure and role in society.

To this end, the Center for Capacity Building and Community Knowledge Management operates in the coastal area of Ciego de Avila with the objective of promoting gender equality and specific actions in the community to deal with climatic adversities.