I was born in La Plata, Argentina on
November 18, 1971. I studied History at the National University of La Plata and
was a member of the Working Group on Visual History.
Before joining the Habitat
International Coalition (HIC) in Mexico City, I worked for 7 years in Argentina
as a member of the editing and publishing team for the Centre for Environmental
Studies and Projects Foundation (Fundación CEPA, Centro de Estudios y Proyectos
del Ambiente), the Latin American Forum for Environmental Studies (Foro
Latinoamericano de Ciencias Ambientales)-UNESCO Chair on Sustainable
Development, and the journal Environment
(Revista Ambiente).
I have been living in Mexico City
since June 1999 and I joined the HIC-Latin America (HIC-AL) regional team in
2000, collaborating with Fomento Solidario de la Vivienda (FOSOVI) and other
organizations of the Mexico Habitat Coalition (CHM). I have been the Coordinator
of the HIC-Latin American Regional Office since 2003.
My native language is Spanish, I
speak and write English and French, and I understand and read Portuguese.
Regional
Office Coordination, HIC-Latin America
Primary responsibilities include:
- General
management, coordination and implementation of regional and international projects
under the auspices of various donors, in addition to drafting necessary
reports; - Organization,
coordination and participation in HIC regional, national and international
meetings, including the Board and General Assembly; - Planning,
participation and follow-up of HIC regional, national and international
events, especially the World Social Forum, the Americas Social Forum, and
the World Urban Form; - Organization
of training activities for HIC and related networks; - Ongoing
communication and support for regional HIC member organizations in Latin
America, and in other regions (Spanish-, English-, French- and Portuguese-speaking
members) to develop, implement, monitor and disseminate activities and
projects in a cooperative manner; - Development
and strengthening of links with other regional, national and international
networks, including the implementation and diffusion of common activities,
such as campaigns, events, research projects, and publications; - Writing
Focal Point electronic bulletins and articles for HIC regional and
international websites; - Coordination
and editing of regional, national and international HIC publications,
including participation in French-Spanish, English-Spanish and
Portuguese-Spanish translations.
Regional
and International Projects
Support to the HIC-Latin
American Regional Secretariat. Coordination of strategies, agendas, action plans for social movements,
technical teams, grassroots organizations, NGOs, and academics to advocate for policies
in popular housing and habitat, with the goal of improving housing conditions
among low-income communities. Misereor, Germany, 2001-2003, 2004-2006,
2007-2009, and 2010-2012.
Human rights linked to
habitat in Meso-America. Project developed resistance strategies for local organizations and
communities threatened by the Panama Plan and the possibility of forced displacement
and human rights violations. In coordination with Silvia Emanuelli (HIC-AL).
Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, Germany, 2003-present.
Regional Project on
Women and Housing: Constructing Dignity. In coordination with the Observatori DESC
(Barcelona), HIC General Secretariat and HIC-Women and Habitat Network for
Latin America (Red Mujer y Hábitat). Supported by ACCD and Diputació de
Barcelona, Spain, 2007-2008.
The social production
of habitat and the right to housing and to the city in Latin America: Strategic
directions for HIC regional action and advocacy. 12 organizations and 7 cities/countries
(Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Mexico and Uruguay) participated
in this project, with planning, monitoring and evaluation meetings in Caracas,
Montevideo, Buenos Aires, and Bogotá. Supported by Oxfam-Novib, The
Netherlands, 2005-2008.
Project to support
advocacy processes for policies related to the social production of habitat. Supported by the Swedish Cooperative
Centre, Sweden, 2007.
International project
on the social production of habitat: Conceptual development, case studies,
support instruments and public policy advocacy. The project involved diverse HIC organizations
and HIC bodies in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America. InWent,
Germany, 2003-2005.
Regional project to strengthen
civil society for the realization of human rights linked to habitat. 10 organizations and 5
cities/countries, including Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Mexico y Uruguay.
Planning, monitoring and evaluation meetings in Buenos Aires, México, and La
Paz. Supported by Oxfam-Novib, The Netherlands, 2003-2005.
Institutional
Responsibilities
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Participated
in the core team for the HIC institutional evaluation: reviewed the structure
of the coalition, including HIC-Latin America (June 2006-April 2007).
Organization and participation in workshops at global and regional levels, as
well as preparation of field visits. Involved in developing terms of reference
for evaluation and in coordinating part of the evaluation document’s final
translation.
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Organization,
coordination and follow-up of HIC internal meetings at regional and national
levels in Latin America, as well as contributing to global coalition meetings.
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Development,
outreach and strengthening of links with organizations, movements and networks
that work on housing and habitat issues regionally and internationally. Among
other activities, this includes public announcements, press outreach, public
events, campaigns, document development, urgent action appeals, publications
and action-research.
Presentations
(most relevant, 2010-2007 only)
• The urban challenge in Latin America and the World: Analysis and
proposals based on HIC work. International Conference on Crisis of Civilization and Climate Change.
People’s Dialogue and Alternative Information Development Centre (AIDC).
Johannesburg, October 2010.
• The social function of land and property: Strategic principle of the
Right to the City.
International Seminar on Access to Urban Land for Popular Housing. Central de Cooperativas de Vivienda por Ayuda Mutua del Paraguay,
Comité de iglesias para ayudas de emergencia (CIPAE) and Cooperative Swedish
Centre. Asunción, August 2010.
• Key elements of housing and urban issues in Latin America from the Right
to the City approach – The case of the Mexico City Charter. International Workshop at the World Urban Forum 5, organized by Instituto
Polis, Forum Nacional de Reforma Urbana (FNRU), Instituto Brasileiro de Derecho
Urbanístico (IBDU), Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) and UNESCO. Rio
de Janeiro, March 2010.
• HIC-AL and its proposals on human settlements from the Right to
Housing, Right to the City and Social Production of Habitat perspectives. Expert meeting organized by the
UN-Habitat Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (ROLAC). Bogotá,
January 2010.
• Habitat in Latin America: Some elements for reflection and action. International Seminar-Workshop,
Towards the Implementation of the Right to the City in Latin America. COHRE, Foro Urbano Ecuador, Secretaría Latinoamericana para la
Vivienda Popular (SELVIP), FNRU, Habitat for Humanity and Asociación
Latinoamericana de Organizaciones de Promoción al Desarrollo (ALOP). Quito, September 2009.
• Habitat in Latin America: Right to Housing and Right to the City. International Seminar-Workshop on
Habitat and Social Equality organized by the Government of Santa Fe State
(Argentina), URBAL III and the Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Santa Fe,
August 2009.
• Strategic principles of the Right to the City: Achievements,
challenges and perspectives in the struggle for Urban Reform in Latin America. International Seminar-Workshop,
Struggles for Urban Reform: the Right to the City as an alternative to
Neoliberalism. IX World Social Forum, Tent on Right to the City organized by
more than 30 networks and social movements. Belém do
Pará, January 2009.
• HIC-AL
and its work on housing, habitat and cities. Changing our perspectives and
concepts to approach urban realities. IV International Forum on Democracy
and Cooperation. AECID, AUPEX, IEPALA, Agencia
Extremeña de Cooperación. Cáceres, September 2008.
• Women
and Territorial Management. Right to the city and the social
production of
habitat. How do we
understand participation? Which concepts? Which practices? International Seminar, Women and
Housing Rights: Building Habitat for Human Dignity. Observatori DESC, HIC. Barcelona, February 2008.
• HIC-AL and its
perspectives and proposals on human settlements in today’s world. The Right to
Housing, the Right to the City and the Social Production of Habitat. Interview with Enrique Ortiz
(HIC-AL) at Radio Nederland (available on Internet). The Netherlands, February
2008.
• HIC-Latin America
and the Right to the City and Habitat. What are we fighting for?
VIII World Social Forum. Mexico City, January
2008.
• The
Right to Adequate Housing from International Human Rights Tools and Gender Perspectives.
International Seminar, Women and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in
Latin America and the Caribbean. Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar y HIC-AL.
Quito, Ecuador, September 2007.
• HIC-AL and its work:
defending the Right to Housing and to Land. The case of Mexico. Amnesty International Assembly.
Morelos, México, August 2007.
• HIC-AL and its work
in Latin America: What are rights for? How can we achieve them?
Workshop on Agrarian Reform and the Right to
Food organized by FoodFirst Information and Action Network (FIAN
International). Mexico City, August 2007.
Publications
and Editing Experience
Zárate, M. Lorena. 2010. “The Mega-City
Squeeze”. Amandla! Magazine, Nº 17/18 (Nov-Dec),
pp. 33-35. Electronic version available at: http://www.amandlapublishers.co.za/.
Zárate, M. Lorena. 2010. “El derecho a
la ciudad en boca de tod@s: hablemos de cómo avanzar en la reforma urbana” (The
Right to the City on everyone’s lips: Let’s discuss how to advance in urban reform).
Right to Housing
and to the City in Latin America. Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions-COHRE,
Nº 7 (May), pp. 8-9. Special issue on
World Urban Forum 5 (Rio de Janeiro, March 2010). Published at www.cohre.org.
Jill Wigle,
and M. Lorena Zárate. 2010. “Mexico City Creates Charter for the Right to
the City”. Progressive Planning, Nº 184 (Summer), pp. 13-16.
Electronic version available at http://www.plannersnetwork.org/publications/mag_2010_3_summer.html
Zárate,
M. Lorena. 2010. “Mexico City Charter:
The Right to Build the City We Dream About”. In Cities for All: Proposals
and Experiences towards the Right to the City (A. Sugranyes and C. Mathivet,
Editors). Santiago de Chile. Habitat International Coalition. Electronic
version available at hic-net.org
(English, Spanish, French and Portuguese).
Zárate, M. Lorena. 2008. “¿Dónde vamos a vivir?
Otras miradas a desafíos conocidos” (Where
are we going to live? A new look at well-known challenges). Article published at www.asuntosdelsur.org (October).
Zárate, M. Lorena.
2008. “Hacia la implementación del Derecho a la Ciudad en América Latina:
¿habrá lugar para la sociedad civil en la toma de decisiones?” (Towards the implementation of the Right to the City in Latin America:
Will there be a place for civil society in decision-making processes?).
Right to Housing and to the City in Latin America. Centre on Housing Rights and
Evictions-COHRE, Nº 2 (Sept-Oct), pp. 3-4. Published at www.cohre.org
Enrique Ortiz, Nadia Nehls and M. Lorena Zárate (Editors). 2008. “El Derecho a la Ciudad en el Mundo. Compilación de documentos relevantes
para el debate”. (The Right to the City
in the World: Dossier of Relevant Documents for the Debate). Mexico.
HIC-AL. Electronic version available at. www.hic-al.org
Jill Wigle, and M. Lorena Zárate.
2008. “State Support for Social
Production of Housing? Mexico’s New Housing Law Exposes Planning Contradictions
and Challenges”. Progressive Planning, Nº 175 (Spring 2008), pp. 4-8. http://www.plannersnetwork.org/publications/mag_2008_2_spring.html
Enrique Ortiz Flores,
and M. Lorena Zárate (Editors). 2005. “De la marginación a la ciudadanía. 38
casos de producción y gestión social del hábitat”. (From
Marginality to Citizenship: 38 cases of social production and management of
habitat). Barcelona. Forum de las Culturas, HIC,
HIC-AL.
Enrique Ortiz Flores,
and M. Lorena Zárate (Editors). 2002. “Vivitos y coleando. 40 años trabajando
por el hábitat popular en América Latina” (40
years working for popular habitat in Latin America). Mexico. Universidad
Autónoma Metropolitana, HIC-AL.
Communication
Materials and Dissemination
• HIC-Latin America Webpage. General
coordination, development and updating of contents and design (2003–present). Visits:
more than 200,000 per year.
• Regional
electronic bulletin. General coordination, development and updating of
contents (1,500 subscriptions, mostly from Latin America).