Laura Maria Rojas (NYU Gallatin) | Oxfam-Mexico| Mexico City, Mexico
My name is Laura Maria Rojas, and I am an anthropologist and political scientist from Colombia. Currently, I am pursuing an MPA in Public and Nonprofit Management and Policy at NYU Wagner. My coursework focuses on social innovation, human rights, gender equality, and international development.
This summer, I will be interning with Oxfam-Mexico in Mexico City. I will support the Labor and Welfare Team, which advocates for the establishment of a National Care System and promotes the fair distribution of care work. Care has been recognized as a constitutional right in Mexico City, but public policies addressing this issue have been slow to be implemented at both the local and federal levels.
Oxfam has played a pivotal role in Mexico by partnering with community-based organizations and local governments to advance gender equality. Aligned with their mission to fight inequality, end poverty, and address injustice, guided by their commitment to universal human rights.
My interest in this topic stems from both my personal and professional work. I worked with Colombian female victims of the armed conflict, ex-combatants, and migrants in New York on projects aimed at fostering economic empowerment, providing sexual and reproductive rights education, and promoting women’s political participation. Throughout this work, I witnessed how the unfair distribution of unpaid care work poses barriers for women to access education, jobs, and political participation.
According to UN Women, “care” refers to “all activities that regenerate people’s physical and emotional well-being on a daily and generational basis,” including domestic work, water transportation, childcare, care of other family members, elders, persons with disabilities, and self-care.
I have come to understand that care as a right is accompanied by a political project with care for others and the environment at its center. This political project, widely propelled by feminist groups, implies the active engagement of local and federal governments in establishing proper infrastructure and conditions to protect and respect the right to care for and be cared for.
The feminist movement in Latin America has served as a great inspiration for me. If care work distribution and recognition transform, it will have far-reaching effects on women’s lives and society as a whole.
Given this context, my internship at Oxfam-Mexico will be a unique opportunity to learn firsthand about the conditions under which grassroots feminist organizations, NGOs, and local governments come together to advance gender equality.
I’m excited to embark on this new adventure! Thanks for reading!