Picture of inequality
In Colombia, the Constitution of 1991 brought forth a strong set of laws to protect afro and indigenous communities' land and sociocultural rights. Yet, almost 25 years later, unequal access to this information has left many of these communities empoverished and disconnected in the face of great opportunities offered by national economic growth and the peace process. Specially in Cartagena, which is located into the Colombian Caribbean, communities coexist with investors and developers that are rapidly changing the urban/rural dynamics, and with the harsh effects of climate change.
FEM works to inform and empower Afro and Indigenous communities and assist them in making their development model possible. This mission is based on reducing the unequality that strikes the communities and fostering their development in a sustainable way by exercising stronger territorial ownership and mobilizing the means their culture offers them. Therefore, FEM's two main work fields are building a strong sense TERRITORIAL OWNERSHIP and using CULTURE FOR DEVELOPMENT.
FEM works to inform and empower Afro and Indigenous communities and assist them in making their development model possible. This mission is based on reducing the unequality that strikes the communities and fostering their development in a sustainable way by exercising stronger territorial ownership and mobilizing the means their culture offers them. Therefore, FEM's two main work fields are building a strong sense TERRITORIAL OWNERSHIP and using CULTURE FOR DEVELOPMENT.
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We have developed a program called Participatory Ethnic Urban Planning (PEUP). It is a tool for participatory management, design and collective implementation of the ethno development plans for Afro-Colombian communities and indigenous.
It was developed with Association of Afrocolombian Community Councils of Cartagena de Indias (ASOCOC Mi tambó). The main mission of the PEUP is supplying the community not only with the technical tools they need for defending their land rights, but also with self-management tools, which help them promote mechanisms for sustainable development, in accordance with their sociocultural principles. We piloted our PEUP program in 2014 in Tierrabaja, and repeated the process in 2015 in Caño de Loro. We are hoping to develop at least 10 more ethno-development plans in the next 5 years. 
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Heritage (especially immaterial) has a great potential through which communities can foster their economic development as they protect and conserve their own traditions and culture.
FEM provides the possibility to incubate base of pyramid innovation efforts that seek to use heritage as an active for development. Thus, adecuate partnership with experts, and FEM's financial/accounting team, allows samll entrpreneurial efforts to protoype in the market and develop new products. Thus communities can produce decent incomes on th basis of their own sociocultural wealth. Follow this link to see an example. 
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