Mayan Train Links Infrastructure With Gender

In an effort to make sure the Mayan Train is a project that promotes equality and equity, FONATUR and the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) have organized a first introductory course titled “Infrastructure, Gender & Human Rights.” This workshop will be directed to all on-the-ground Mayan Train staff, particularly those referred to as “territorial teams,” considered the first point of contact with the project’s social impact. 

The objective of the course is to implement gender perspective and social integration into the project’s development. FONATUR Director General Rogelio Jiménez Pons commented that the course was an example of the Mayan Train as “representing a new paradigm of infrastructure project construction with an unparalleled focus on human rights and development.” Parts of the course will be focused on gender analysis and sensitivity for all staff, while other parts of the course will cover the empowering and development of leadership skills of indigenous women who will be part of the Tracing & Follow-up Commissions in charge of organizing ongoing polls of affected indigenous communities. This will perform the dual function of deepening the ties between those communities and the project, which is a national standard touted by this administration, and following current international best practices for large scale public projects. 

The material that was produced and will be distributed for the purposes of the course was designed with a framework based specifically on Mexican indigenous feminist scholarship. At the same time, the gender, human rights and indigenous rights standards that will be taught in this course will also be implemented into the projects’ guidelines in categories such as environmentalism, safety, security and hygiene. The language in which this course and its objectives are based on is also taken from the administration’s National Development Plan 2019-2024, whose language is also aligned with that of the UN’s Sustainable Development Objectives known as Agenda 2030.