Morelos approves social reforms and school water harvesting program

The Congress of Morelos has approved several legislative reforms aimed at strengthening the rights of children, women, and the sexual diversity community. Key changes include measures to eliminate barriers to inclusion for minors, updates to the Family Code to ensure non-discriminatory and inclusive language, and requirements for municipal diversity offices to prioritize staff with human rights expertise.

Additionally, the legislature passed reforms to the Solid Waste and Circular Economy Law, mandating that garbage collection near schools occurs outside of peak student transit hours. In the agricultural sector, new regulations will promote the use of bio-inputs. The Congress also approved a measure granting two days of paid monthly leave to workers diagnosed with severe, incapacitating dysmenorrhea.

Separately, the Morelos Secretariat of Sustainable Development has launched the ‘Rainwater Harvesting in Morelos Schools’ program. This initiative will provide approximately 150 public schools with infrastructure to capture, filter, and store rainwater in 5,000-liter tanks. The system is intended to combat chronic water shortages by providing water for cleaning, irrigation, and sanitation, reducing reliance on private water trucks.