Women Thrive Worldwide

Teresa Flores is coordinating advocacy activities of the Bolivian Civil Society Alliance for Sustainable Development (ABDES), a network made of 5 CSO networks, working for access to land, advocating justice for indigenous peoples, women’s rights, education, and the improvement of living conditions of the poorest people in Bolivia. This network, in its turn, is affiliated to the network Sustainability Watch, which is working in 18 Southern countries, monitoring the implementation of the Johannesburg Summit and the MDGs 1 and 7. Ms. Flores has been involved in environmental, activism for about 20 years. Since the nineties she has been advocating for indigenous peoples’ and women’s rights, as well as for sustainable development. She has been widely writing on these issues, and working in environmental organizations. Among the activities carried out by her there were organizing conferences, seminars, media campaigns, and grassroots training. Her last book Environmental Rights and Duties provides tools and guidance for defending the rights of the poorest and for environmental justice.

Ms. Flores has a vast experience in working in networks and building strategic alliances. She has been very active in advocacy activities for environmental sustainability and environmental justice in LIDEMA, a network made by 29 environmental and development NGOs, about half of them are grassroots organizations, the rest are academic, research and rural development organizations. Her advocacy activities included writing proposals and articles, media campaigns, and training journalists and young leaders. She is well known among environmental and women’s organizations by her activism and writings. She also worked on health and environmental issues, with women’s indigenous peoples organizations of the Bolivian Amazon.

Teresa Flores has been working in sustainable development since 1990, and participated actively in the preparatory meetings and the Rio Summit. She also has been promoting environmental justice, defending the rights to access to resources of the poorest rural people. She is the president of the volunteer organization PRODENA, where she has been active since 1991. In this network she has developed a myriad of activities, particularly training activities, media campaigns, and denouncing activities against the environment.

Teresa Flores has taken leadership in the environmental community in Bolivia promoting sustainable development, environmental rights and justice. She pioneered environmental journalism in the country, and developed environmental education and training activities for many years. She wrote widely supporting women’s and indigenous peoples rights, and about the relationships between poverty and the environment.