Nouveau Québec sans frontières (NQSF)

The goal of Nouveau Québec sans Frontières (NQSF) is to support CECI's mission and to help it consolidate its efforts in its three programmatic priorities:

1. Economic empowerment and women's rights
2. Women as actors in resilience and climate action
3. Working in fragile contexts and in prolonged crises

Additionally, the program plans to conduct pilot initiatives with local partner organizations in order to learn from them and generate models that can be replicated on a larger scale.

In Burkina Faso, the Agricultural Schools for Peace, Social Cohesion and Economic Resilience provide a space for learning for women and youth of displaced populations and host communities. The goal of these agricultural schools is to strengthen peace and social cohesion and to allow beneficiary groups to develop eco-friendly economic activities and become key actors in resilience and climate action.  

Trainings are provided, particularly on the subjects of peace and social cohesion, as well as on new production techniques and methods that are compatible with the preservation of the environment (adapted seeds, solar energy, organic fertilizers, etc.). Furthermore, green business initiatives and solutions based on respect for nature are being developed. These spaces are to be used for agricultural production (horticulture and forestry) to allow youth and women affected by the conflict to better benefit from local economic opportunities and to enhance their leadership roles on issues related to peace, social cohesion, civic engagement and human rights.

This concept will be piloted in two regions, in two different security contexts (North-Central and South-Central). This will allow CECI to learn the necessary lessons to replicate these methods in other communities.

Examples of activities

- Training youth and women horticulturists in agroecology and the use of new production techniques.
- Organizing a theater-forum on human rights and humanitarian rights and the management of community conflicts.

In Guatemala, the NQSF seeks, among other objectives, to promote the participation of women and young women, in particular indigenous and rural women, in decision-making bodies and to improve their access to financial services. The NQSF provides them with innovative learning opportunities in the Mayan languages - Maya Kaqchikel and Maya K'iche - that will give them unique opportunities for entrepreneurship and professional trainings in science, technology, engineering and other fields. All activities will integrate the concept of cultural relevance to ensure that indigenous and rural women are better reached, while taking into account their way of life and their own vision of development (Maya cosmovision, "Network for Life" or "Living Well Together").

NQSF also seeks to bring together two women's organizations from completely different realities in order to collaborate with each other. For example, with the help of our local partner COINDI, the feminist policy proposals developed by La Cuerda, which are aimed at equity and the elimination of discrimination and racism, will be disseminated in Maya languages through their communication channels. Afterwards, these proposals will be discussed in participatory spaces that are open to all women. The bridge created between these two organizations will serve to inform indigenous women of the fights waged in the capital by the feminist movement at the national level, as well as to involve them in the creation of proposals and policies from their own perspectives.

As in Burkina Faso, the NQSF seeks to enable CECI to consolidate its focus on women as key actors in resilience and climate action, in particular by contributing to the following activities:

Examples of activities

- Agro-ecological and artisanal fairs to provide access to new financing models for indigenous women entrepreneurs with "ecological" businesses (kiosks selling medicinal and ancestral plant-based products, among others)
- Creating a rainwater reservoir system in a field experiment that will serve as a place for training, advocacy, and exchange for community groups.