Maaike Hendriks

LILAK has worked alongside indigenous women communities for over a decade, focusing on building capacity and advocating for rights to land, the environment, and bodily autonomy. Despite gaining recognition and trust from allies, the journey was challenging. Starting with limited resources, LILAK faced resistance, particularly from patriarchal leaders and the state, which often labeled them as adversaries. Nevertheless, they adapted and…

Historically, the Sengwer community has lived in harmony with their environment, relying on forest resources for sustenance  and integrating conservation into their daily lives. However, recent government policies aimed at forest protection have limited their access to these ancestral lands. Although these regulations intend to protect the environment, they often disregard the traditional conservation practices of indigenous communities like the Sengwer, who have been natural stewards of these lands for generations.  Faced with these restrictions, the Segerger Women’s Conservation…

Fórum Suape decided to help several women’s groups in their network. First, they wanted to understand the desires and needs of each group, with the aim of fostering collective thinking and understanding their collective interests and goals. Five groups were selected, one group had difficulty in…

Collectivo CASA in Bolivia, with support from Both ENDS and Dare to Trust, found great satisfaction in assisting women defenders with personal and economic needs. This support allowed the women to express their needs and develop a shared vision for their improvement. Although managing funds sustainably posed challenges, the women defenders demonstrated their skills by quickly creating a “Plan for Good Living,” (“Buen Vivir” in Spanish)…

The pilot of Dare to Trust, facilitated by NTFP-EP, was implemented in two grassroots women’s organisations in the Philippines and Cambodia. The Dare to Trust project provided them with the independence to utilize the resources they have and thus handed to them the agency for more grounded and better judgment. By giving more liberty to the communities we are moving them away from bureaucratic processes and power structures, and…

Lumière Synergie pour Développement (LSD) has helped 63 individual women who all have had problems due to the development of a controversial train project (TER) in Senegal and a recent big earthquake. These communities are displaced by the train project, involuntarily resettled, their property…

The Dare to Trust-initiative, led by Kebetkache Women Development & Resource Centre with support from Both ENDS, empowers individuals with business potential who face financial constraints. The program has successfully supported 40 beneficiaries, enabling them to grow their businesses…

Yasores as an organisation was supported by the Samdhana Institute in our Dare to Trust-project, a no-strings-attached way of funding. The only administrative duty was to send a creative report about the activities. The Samdhana Institute send this story about the history and founding of…

In the Dare to Trust project, WOMIN South Africa has worked with local women’s, youth and farmer groups in Madagascar. They worked on increasing…

In the Kingdom of Eswatini, rural women have been the custodians of local and indigenous seeds and preserving biodiversity for generations. Officially founded in 2011, the Swaziland Rural Women’s Assembly (SRWA) has brought together over 20.000 women across the country to reclaim their traditional knowledge of seed sharing. In the Dare to Trust project, the SRWA has developed a new Agroecology Demonstration Center as a learning…

Instituto Cordilheira in Brazil has a vast network of grassroot organisations in Brazil. With a lot of creativity they were able to assist many of them with…

For more than thirty years, Both ENDS has collaborated with partner organisations around the world to advance environmental justice. Our relationships with partners, many of which span decades, are based on shared values, respect and trust. Together, we are strengthening knowledge, networks and…