Tena, Colombia — The ‘House of Thought’ of the Organization of Indigenous Peoples of the Colombian Amazon (OPIAC) became the great house for hundreds of indigenous women, who traveled from their villages along the 6,992 km of extension of the Amazon Basin, to share experiences and build their own advocacy agenda during the first Indigenous Women of the Amazon Basin Summit.
The Amazon rainforest plays a vital role in regulating the climate at a global level, and these women are the first line of territorial defense against oil extraction, mining, illegal logging, drug trafficking and indiscriminate invasion promoted by both the private sector and their own national governments.
The representatives in the Summit live in the Amazon, the forest is their home, the source of their food and their pharmacy, their lives are closely intertwined with the natural cycles, the earth, the rain and the climate; This is why their peoples have been able to resist a constant siege, protecting the largest forest on the planet. Through their work as guardians of the forest, healers, herbalists, teachers, artists and speakers, the women of the Amazon protect a natural and cultural heritage from which all of humanity benefits.
Organized by COICA’s Coordination of Women and Family, the event brought together more than 170 female leaders, from October 8 to 12, to analyze in depth the issues that affect national coordinators in Ecuador, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Suriname , Guyana and French Guiana.
Workshops and dialogues: the Summit participants exchanged experiences and knowledge during the 4 days of activities
The women addressed issues related to the conservation of their territories, including their total exclusion from direct access to global climate funds, which are exploited by governments and private companies, but do not reach the communities.
One of the Summit’s mandates is the search for parity in the participation of women in all decision-making spaces at the local, national and regional organizational levels. The full mandate is available here and at the Summit webpage https://mujeres.coicamazonia.org/
The Global Alliance of Territorial Communities, of which COICA is part, had the opportunity to participate in this event with a delegation that also included the participation of two other member organizations: the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB) and the Mesoamerican Alliance of Peoples and Forests (AMPB). Due to the travel restrictions imposed globally because of the pandemic, the participation of women from the Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN) of Indonesia was not possible on this occasion.
The delegates from Brazil, Sonia Guajajara and Celia Xakriabá, and from Mesoamerica, Florita Martínez and Arlen Ortíz, shared with leaders of the 9 Amazonian countries and took part in the activities, workshops and dialogues aimed at the unification of a common front for protection of the rights of indigenous women, their inclusion in decision-making at the global level and the mobilization of climate funds that effectively reach the communities of the Amazon forests.
The event was organized by COICA and OPIAC, with the participation of women leaders from the 9 Amazonian countries that make up COICA’s base:
This story was originally published at the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities webpage: https://globalalliance.me/indigenous-women-of-the-amazon-basin-summit-call-for-earth/