Mother earth
Our most stable security and leader.
The rocking cradle of mental and spiritual wisdom.
The beginning and enabler of all growth. Enabler of all living life.
Mother earth,
she who was born before us,
upon whose wisdom we have built our development.
With our strong roots pushing deep into the soil,
in harmony with the root system the size of mother earth.
With the tops reaching for the sky,
towards light, supported by strong trunks
in a perfect ecosystem of nature with man.
Everything as belonging to each other,
as all mutual respect and enabler for each other's growth.
Only then is your own growth possible.
Only then is nature's cycle complete
and only then does it continue its well-being.
Well-being, the source of which are the roots.
Strong healthy roots as a force for growth, as a a security that feels,
like a hug. As an equal to mother earth.
Listening to the forest embraced by mother earth, one understands
the equal right of different species to become visible.
It is not so much a measure of our human dignity,
what we are ourselves but rather
all our worth is measured by what we are to each other.
Because that's who we deep down are to ourselves.
Thus, is also how we see ourselves deep down.
That is the seed we sow.
In its sowing is where we live.
That is the song our forest sings for us.
Only then is common growth possible.
Minna Pietarinen
2023
Indigenous women's rights
Rigoberta Menchú Tum is a Guatemalan human rights activist from the Quiche tribe, a feminist and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. Menchú Tum has been an active defender of women's rights and a feminist since she was a teenager. Throughout her life, she has also actively defended the rights and status of indigenous peoples. As everywhere in the world, indigenous peoples in Guatemala also face significant discrimination in society and their cultural heritage and rights are threatened.
According to UN Women, only 10% of indigenous women in Guatemala work in the official sector, and their wages are 12% lower than those of indigenous men, and 29% lower than those of the men of the majority population. Literacy is also lower among indigenous women compared to men. Indigenous women are furthermore very underrepresented in politics and decision-making.
Rigoberta Menchú Tum was one of 30,000 activists, policymakers and leaders who attended the 1995 World Conference on Women in Beijing. The outcome of the conference was a document known as the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which set a global agenda and plan for the world to achieve equality and the rights of women and girls. "The Beijing conference was an unprecedented gathering that brought together women's voices, and a particularly important element was specifically the voice of indigenous women. After Beijing, women were no longer afraid to demand the right to participate. It was a significant victory for human rights," Menchú Tum has said.
"I am proud that there is an intergenerational dialogue among women in Guatemala. Women's expression is diverse, and many young women are also actively involved and take their own emancipation into their own hands. I hope this will continue forever: that women leave their footprints for others, so that those who come after can continue to fight for their own rights.”
Rigoberta Menchú Tum is the first and so far the only indigenous woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
UN Women is the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. A global champion for women and girls, UN Women was established to accelerate progress on meeting the needs of women and girls worldwide. UN Women Finland is the Finnish National Committee of UN Women. The accompanying texts telling the stories of the women in the paintings and the rights that are depicted were written by Emma Winiecki, Head of Communications for UN Women Finland.