Empowering Young Women to Build the Future of Mexico
Every hour, an adolescent girl under the age of 15 gives birth in Mexico. It’s a complex social problem with devastating effects. Teenaged mothers face higher risks of health complications, including death, and their own children are at greater risk of low birth weight and developmental delays. Young mothers often must delay their education to care for young children, diminishing their career prospects and perpetuating a cycle of poverty in the country.
To help combat this problem, EDP Renewables North America (EDPR NA) has partnered with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Mexico to reduce teen pregnancies and provide a path for young girls to explore their full potential.
UNFPA’s “¡Yo Decido!” social impact fund, which EDPR NA supports, provides sustainable funding for Mexico’s National Strategy for the Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy, which aims to eliminate child pregnancies and greatly reduce teenage pregnancies while addressing their underlying root causes.
Partnering for Reproductive Rights and Equal Opportunity
The public-private partnership between EDPR NA and UNFPA bolsters the resources of the program, improving access to sexual and reproductive health services, sexual education and community-based teen pregnancy prevention strategies.
To date, UNFPA’s initiatives have already reached nearly 35,000 adolescents and young women in some of the poorest, most socially isolated areas of the country.
Educating Mexico’s young people strengthens local communities and will ultimately expand the country’s economy too, noted Dr. Alanna Armitage, UNFPA Representative to Mexico.
“Multi-stakeholder alliances are essential to empowering girls, reducing adolescent pregnancy, strengthening communities, and building human capital,” Dr. Amitage said, in a signing ceremony in Mexico City. “EDPR NA’s financial support of UNFPA’s ¡Yo Decido! Social Impact Fund exemplifies the power of public-private partnerships to create a stronger, more prosperous future for Mexico’s youth.”
Empowering the Next Generation of Women in Mexico’s Energy Transition
EDPR NA aims to expand its involvement in the UNFPA program by providing real-world opportunities for young women through mentorship and learning across its renewable energy project portfolio in Mexico, which currently encompasses 566 MW of operating wind and solar farms. These projects have generated hundreds of millions of dollars in local capital investment, created more than 1,000 jobs, and provide ongoing, reliable access to clean energy in communities often without adequate energy resources.
As Mexico ramps up its energy transition, new talent in the field of renewable energy will be crucial, and increasingly that talent could be female. Mexico’s newly inaugurated President, Claudia Sheinbaum, an environmental scientist and the country’s first female leader, provides a strong model to young women in Mexico. The 62-year-old has a Ph.D. in energy engineering and, in the early 1990s, studied at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in northern California. She was part of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change team that shared a Nobel Peace Prize with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore in 2007.
Under President Sheinbaum’s leadership, Mexico recently set a new target between 32% and 45% clean electricity by 2030. The new goal is well above the 24% renewables represented last year, according to Mexico’s Ministry of Energy. If achieved, Mexico would be back on track to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, which seeks to keep the global average temperature to no more than two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
Already Making an Impact: Social Investment Activities in Neighboring Communities of Los Cañones
EDPR NA developed a Social Investment Plan as part of a strategy to mitigate and compensate for the impacts of its Los Cañones project, a 96 MW wind farm located in the state of Coahuila. The activities included in the plan were identified through a series of community workshops designed to understand the needs of local residents. These activities were crafted to align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and in compliance with local regulations.
One of the key initiatives within the plan is the construction and equipping of two small medical offices (24 m²) in La Sauceda and San Cosme. These offices aim to enhance the medical services available in communities that used to lack suitable spaces for primary healthcare. Each medical office includes a bathroom and an examination room, which is equipped with a balance, a baby weighing scale, an OB/GYN examination table, medical cabinets, a mobile gooseneck examination lamp, an infusion stand, a wheelchair, crutches, and chairs. As the offices were built from the ground up, new electrical and drainage systems were also installed. Upon completion, a member from each community designed and painted murals on the walls of the medical offices, depicting their view of the neighboring wind farms.
This initiative is expected to benefit approximately 180 people, and our hope is that that number continues to grow. It also encourages active participation from local residents in both the use and maintenance of the offices, fostering a sense of ownership and strengthening community ties.
Through EDPR NA's work with the UNFPA and our community relations efforts on the ground, we look forward to supporting an energy transition that empowers women and benefits their communities throughout Mexico.
For more information on EDPR NA’s work with UNFPA Mexico, read the press release.
Authors:
Gerardo Adame | Project Development - Mexico
gerardo.adame@edp.com
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Rodrigo Inurreta | Federal Affairs
rodrigo.inurreta@edp.com
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