This video was created as part of the "Women of Influence/Mujeres que influyen" project led by PUCP (Perú) and the University of East Anglia (UK) - including New Area Studies Research Centre UEA members Professor Sarah Barrow and Professor Eylem Atakav.

The “Women of Influence/Mujeres que influyen” project starts from the premise that while women play a fundamental role in food security, the preservation of biodiversity and ancestral knowledge, and the management and defence of Amazonian land and water, these contributions still often go unrecognized. (Marcelo, ONAMIAP, 2018) This project has sought to emphasise the importance for indigenous, rural women to participate actively in their communities, including exercising control over their resources.

Working alongside a group of indigenous women in the Peruvian Amazon, members of the organisation OMIAASEC, our project asks why women remain largely excluded from community decision-making, seeking to understand more deeply the cultural and societal determinants that block them from roles of leadership and influence and seeking new forms of empowerment.

We analyse the work that women undertake as community members and leaders, their ambitions, networks and spheres of influence in the context of conflict, risk and disaster. The co-designed activities have resulted in research outputs (academic articles, participant-led short films and a collaborative manifesto) that continue to be presented to local/regional/national stakeholders, including government, civil and corporate representatives (in Peru and the UK primarily, as well as further afield including at COP28).

One such film is The Water Spring by Abigail Hoyos López, which in less than 3 and a half minutes conveys a powerful and poetic message about discrimination in relation to access to water.

Website: https: https://women-of-influence.co.uk