CESE launches project and public call for applications for small projects to strengthen indigenous women in the Amazon and Cerrado, with support and funding from the European Union

Indigenous women from the Amazon and the Cerrado will receive support through a project that aims to help to guarantee their rights and those of their peoples.  The project “Patak Maymu: Autonomy and participation for indigenous women of the Amazon and the Cerrado in defence of their rights” is an initiative of the Ecumenical Coordination of Service (Coordenadoria Ecumênica de Serviço: CESE) with support and funding from the European Union.

The launch was held on 27 April, as part of the Free Land Camp (Acampamento Terra Livre: ATL) programme, in the tent of the Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (Coordenação das Organizações Indígenas da Amazônia: COIAB), and was attended by indigenous women from the Amazon and the Cerrado.

The project will encourage indigenous women’s participation and that of their organizations, helping them to achieve recognition both within and outside their communities, by the indigenous movement and by Brazilian society.  In attendance at the launch were: CESE’s Executive Director Sonia Mota; Project Manager for the EU Cooperation Sector in Brazil (@uenobrasil) Ana Almeida; Marciely Ayap Tupari, (@coiabamazonia); Diolina Krikati; Maria Helena Gavião (@umiabamazonia); Creuza Kadiwéu/Mato Grosso; Maria Assunta Pedrosa from COIAB; Anarrory Takina and Osmarina Muriman Takina (@takinamulheresindigenasmt ), as well as Ana Paula Ferreira, CESE’s Projects and Training Advisor, who presented the Public Call for Small Projects, which was launched on the same day.  The act included a song from Diolina Krikati of the Suraras do Tapajós and Beatriz Tuxá, CESE singer and communicator.  Stefan Agne, Head of EU Cooperation in Brazil, also visited the COIAB tent on that day.

Suraras do Tapajós at the launch, next to indigenous women from the Cerrado and the Amazon

The initiative is aimed at 11 states in the Legal Amazon and the Cerrado: Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Mato Grosso, Maranhão, Pará, Rondônia, Roraima, Tocantins, Mato Grosso do Sul and Minas Gerais. The project works with the following partner organizations: Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (Coordenação das Organizações Indígenas da Amazônia: COIAB), Union of Indigenous Women of the Brazilian Amazon (União das Mulheres Indígenas da Amazônia Brasileira: UMIAB), Takiná – Organization for Indigenous Women of Mato Grosso (Takiná – Organização de Mulheres Indígenas de Mato Grosso), Xakriabá Organizations, Guarani and Kaiowá Organizations and Podáali the Indigenous Fund of the Brazilian Amazon (Fundo Indígena da Amazônia Brasileira – Podáali).

During the event, a representative of the European Union, Ana Almeida (photo below), highlighted the importance of this partnership to strengthen indigenous women.  “It’s very important [to support this project for indigenous women], because it strengthens indigenous women’s organizations, their management capacities, their communications and their capacity to coordinate.  And this work did not start with this project, we can see results here, with great participation from the women here at the ATL.  The European Union defends human rights and the democratic rule of law, these are values that we share.  One of the European Union’s priorities in Brazil is indigenous peoples, human rights defenders.”

Ana Almeida – Project Manager for the EU Cooperation Sector in Brazil (at the microphone) and Ana Paula Ferreira (CESE) at the launch

Marciely Ayap Tupari – COIAB Executive Secretary, greeting the indigenous women in the COIAB tent

“The project provides an opportunity for indigenous women to participate in mobilizations.  We know that support is very difficult, so this project has come along precisely to provide more support for women to be part of these mobilizations,” noted Marciely Ayap Tupari, from COIAB Rondônia.

Powerful speeches highlighted the importance of strengthening the autonomy and participation of indigenous women from the Amazon and the Cerrado in defence of their rights

The Patak Maymu project will take place over 36 months and support approximately 60 initiatives.  During this period, training, communications and project support activities will take place, seeking to reflect the diversity of indigenous women and mixed organizations, including young people and indigenous women in the urban context.  It is expected that the project will reach more than 3 thousand indigenous women through its activities.

A presentation was also made on the day regarding the Public Call for Applications for small projects for indigenous women from the Amazon and the Cerrado to participate in the 3rd Indigenous Women’s March, to be held in Brasilia in September.

The public call for applications, with guidance about how to register, is available here.

Registrations

Registrations for the Public Call for Applications begin on Tuesday 2 May and will remain open until 16 June.  At least 20 projects, to a limit of BRL 25 thousand each, will be selected.

For CESE’s Executive Director, Sonia Mota, the project’s innovation resides in the fact that it is aimed not only at the Amazon states, but also at the Cerrado. “For us, it’s very important to make this connection between the Amazon and the Cerrado, two regions where the indigenous movement and the women’s movement have suffered the greatest rights violations.  So this project of ours is really to support these organizations and their fight for protagonism in their public agendas, in their mobilizations for public policies,” she noted during the launch.

Sonia Mota, greeting the indigenous women at the launch

Throughout CESE’s 50-year history it has supported more than 600 projects in the Amazon region alone. “Our link with the indigenous agenda is historic.  And what is more important is that, although CESE is an ecumenical organization made up of christian churches, as soon as we hear talk about religious fundamentalism entering indigenous territories to deny their faith, we start moving in the other direction, we have been strengthening indigenous movements in their agendas, in their religions, for so many years, and this is our unique strength,” she observed.

Stefan Agne, Head of EU Cooperation in Brazil (on the right), with Sonia Mota and Vinícius Benites (CESE)

The public call for applications, with guidance about how to register, is available here.

About CESE

Based in Salvador (Bahia), CESE was founded in 1973 and is made up of christian churches.  For 50 years, the organization has had a commitment to strengthen the participation of civil society organizations, particularly grassroots ones, in their struggles for political, economic, environmental and social transformations, focused on the structures in which democracy with justice prevails, as a mediator of financial resources and sharing dialogue and networking arenas.

The indigenous movement has been an essential political force, producing social mobilizations for the defence of rights, environmental protection and to confront democratic setbacks in Brazil. Over its 50 years, CESE has always stood alongside indigenous peoples.

Historically, this support ranges from local groups to regional bodies, mobilizations, campaigns, providing international visibility to the struggles through ecumenical missions, a range of training including in accounting, planning, legal support to ensure the associations are compliant, supporting management, communications and so forth.

Service 

Registrations are open for the Public Call for Applications for small projects – to support indigenous women from the Amazon and the Cerrado to participate in the 3rd Indigenous Women’s March, to be held in Brasilia in September.

Open from: 02 May to 16 June

Launch photos | Credit: André Ribeiro: 

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1J4XLE_cUuWSjYDs1lMlDYqPCpxpzEtXX

Launch recording on Instagram (in Portuguese):

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cri1JQ9g8t5/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link