September 22-28, 2024
Exact timing is subject to change
Sunday, September 22: Mexico City
4:30 – 6:00 pm: Opening Session
6:00 – 7:30 pm: Welcome Dinner
Monday, September 23: Mexico City
9:45 am – 12:00 pm: Orientation with AJWS President & CEO, Local Colleagues, and Experts
12:00 – 1:00 pm: Lunch
2:00 – 5:00 pm: Partner Visit: Movimiento por Nuestros Desaparecidos en Mexico (MNDM) & SERAPAZ
The Movement for Our Disappeared in Mexico is one of three large networks of colectivos active at a national level. MNDM seeks to promote legislation that would document disappearances, establish appropriate penalties for the crimes of forced disappearances and create mechanisms for search, investigation and coordination between authorities of different fields and sectors of the State. They are comprised of over 80 collectives from 24 states that advocate at the national level, as well as internationally with the United Nations and Inter-American Commission, with the goal of finding the whereabouts of the thousands of missing persons in the country and guaranteeing the rights of the victims.
SERAPAZ is a national level organization that elevates the voices of victims’ groups in shaping national and state policies concerning transitional justice and accountability efforts related to disappearances. They facilitate the coordination and advocacy efforts of MNDM and play an important role in holding the government accountable for implementing the General Law on Disappearances. They also work on policies and legislation in key states, supporting local family colectivos with strategic planning, training, advocacy, facilitation and mediation.
5:30 – 7:30 pm: Dinner
Tuesday, September 24: Mexico City > Oaxaca
9:30 am – 12:30 pm: Partner Visit: Enlaces Nacionales / FUNDENL
(Fuerzas Unidas por Nuestros Desaparecidos en Nuevo Leon)
Enlaces Nacionales is a national network of 160 colectivos representing over 2,000 families across Mexico. They coordinate peer learning exchanges, public actions and national-level field searches for the disappeared through their annual Brigada Nacional (National Brigade). Enlaces Nacionales is supported by the Colectivo Familiares en Busqueda Maria Herrera, a group of family members of the disappeared started by Maria Herrera, a remarkable activist who has been searching for four of her eight children who have been disappeared over the last 15 years. Maria has received global recognition for her work including meeting Pope Francis, being listed in TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2023 and suing the Mexican state in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights for its failure to investigate her sons’ disappearances.
FUNDENL comprises about 30 families and volunteers who have been searching for over 500 loved ones since 2012. In addition to actively advocating for truth and justice at local, regional, national and international levels, the collective is a leader in the field for the creation of their Huellas de Vida online search platform which allows family members to search case information and forensic files to assist in identifying those who have disappeared. They have also constituted their own accredited Anthropological and Archeological Forensics Team.
1:00 – 1:30 pm: Tour of Glorieta de la Palma
Glorieta de la Palma is a monument that has been taken over by local colectivos as a space to memorialize the victims of disappearances and call attention to the issue.
Afternoon Flight to Oaxaca
Evening Dinner
Wednesday, September 25: Oaxaca
9:00 am – 12:00 pm: Partner Visit: REDECOM
REDECOM is a network of human rights defenders supported by AJWS grantee EDUCA. They are dedicated to promoting sustainable development in indigenous and marginalized communities in Oaxaca, Mexico. They’re defending their land against harmful mining projects and protecting their river from the construction of a hydro-electric dam that would damage the delicate ecosystem.
2:00 – 5:00 pm: Partner Visit: SER Mixe
Servicios del Pueblo Mixe (SER Mixe) is an indigenous organization founded in 1988 with the dual mission of contributing to the processes of autonomy and collective rights of the Ayuuk (Mixe) indigenous people in the Ayuuk region of Oaxaca. They work on sustainable development, gender and women’s rights, culture and education, and communication. SER Mixe participates in spaces critical to the advancement of indigenous rights at the state, national and international levels, including the United Nations.
Thursday, September 26: Oaxaca
10:00 am – 2:00 pm: Partner Visit: UNOSJO
UNOSJO is a Zapotec indigenous organization whose influential work on food sovereignty and Indigenous Peoples’ rights extends across Mexico. It is one of the leading indigenous organizations in Latin America working on food sovereignty and defense of Indigenous Peoples’ cultures and territories by reviving and using their traditional governance structures and principles. UNOSJO was instrumental in exposing the contamination of native corn by GMO varieties. They also play a lead role in the Network in Defense of Heirloom Corn in 22 Mexican states, and the National Indigenous Congress.
Late Afternoon Optional Touring
5:30 pm: Dinner
Friday, September 27: Oaxaca
9:00 am: Optional Touring of Oaxaca
12:00 pm: Lunch
3:00 pm: Closing Session
6:30 pm: Farewell Dinner
Saturday, September 28
Departures
Trip Details
- Total Trip Cost: $8,180
- Single Supplement: $1,300
What’s included:
- Accommodations
- Airport Transfers
- All ground transportation
- All meals
- Sightseeing and activity costs
- Domestic flight from Mexico City to Oaxaca
- Local English-speaking guides throughout
- Gratuity for your drivers and guides
- Medical insurance through AJWS’s policies with Cigna health plan and Global Rescue
- VIP Airport service on arrival and departure
- Local Photographer
What’s not included:
- International Round-trip flights to Mexico (arrival to Mexico City, departure from Oaxaca)
- Alcohol
- Lunch on arrival and departure day
- Personal expenses (laundry, phone calls, shopping, etc.)