Friday, September 13, 2002

Leticia Toj, R.N.

Mayan leader and proponent of human rights and women's rights in Guatemala

Ms. Toj is the Executive Director of one of Guatemala's leading grassroots non-governmental organizations (NGOs) called Rxiin T'namet (meaning "Clinic of the People" in the Mayan language Tzutujil). Rxiin T'namet currently serves a Mayan population of 40,000 in Solola, Guatemala and provides clinical and preventive health care, with a special emphasis on raising awareness about the rights of women, children and adolescents as vulnerable groups. Ms. Toj and her staff have developed this NGO over a period of 28 years, the first 22 with support from Project Concern International and the last six independently. Ms. Toj has forged relationships with Guatemalan and international government officials and has negotiated agreements that increase access to health care as a human right for those populations. She also represented Guatemala at the Cairo Conference on Population and Development and has been invited to speak at the United Nations during the 55th Annual DPI/NGO Conference in September, titled "Rebuilding Societies Emerging from Conflict: A Shared Responsibility."

Co-sponsored by Project Concern International

There will be sequential interpretation.