Walmart is to provide more than $2.5 million in grants to organizations in Latin America working to empower the region’s women. CHF International is the biggest winner with a grant of $500,000 to its Honduran operation, which is helping vulnerable women to develop their business and legal skills and their ability to form part of sustainable value chains. Aid to Artisans in northern Colombia has also received nearly $490,000 to allow it to help more than 800 Wayuu women to increase their incomes from handicraft sales by providing business training, product design support, new market development and buyer links. Other beneficiaries are Pro Mujer Argentina ($300,000), TechnoServe in Nicaragua (485,000), Save the Children for its work in El Salvador ($400,000) and Heifer International in the Peruvian Highlands ($340,000).

One of the beneficiaries, Pro Mujer (pictured), which provides services to female entrepreneurs, has also recently announced that it is to begin operations in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. The opening of a new office in Ocatlán in late June brings the number of Mexican states the organization now operates in to nine.