In defense of the bodies and territories of Andean-Amazonian women in their diversity

Proposals for the Summit of Presidents of the Amazon

Today we are in a new historical moment for the Amazon. The voice and participation of indigenous women, quilombolas, peasants, blacks, feminists and social organizations and civil society as a whole must be heard by the leaders of the Pan-Amazon region. The presidents of Colombia and Brazil have opened this space to place our political proposals to eradicate the conditions that sustain and reproduce the violence that is exercised by states and companies against the Amazonian peoples and the bodies of women, of which the most impacted are indigenous and black women.

During the last 8 years, in our wide diversity in the Pan-Amazon, we have managed to jointly build in Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, a process of organization, struggle and resistance through the implementation of the Court of women in  defense of their bodies and territories  and of our Action Initiative that collectively shapes this route that we support in a context of fundamentalist and militarist offensive in the territories that aggravates the violation of our rights.

As part of this walk we want to place our voices at the Summit of Presidents. We want to reaffirm the political strength of women and claim respect for their voice in the construction of proposals, initiatives, commitments and policies of the States to stop the processes of violation of rights, and advance in the defense and guarantee of the same in the Andean-Panamazonian territories. For this we have called ourselves and we reaffirm that patriarchal violence occupies a central place in the lives of the great diversity of women, especially indigenous women, whose territories are increasingly threatened and occupied, being deprived of their livelihoods, persecuted and killed for defending them. 

The judgments of the Courts that we have promoted have verified the violence that women face in the territories and the ignorance of their leadership as defenders, as well as the criminalization of their bodies. And they have also recognized them as political subjects in the Pan-Amazonian and Latin American context.

We recognize ourselves as part of a process that is committed to continuing to expand and strengthen our ties and alliances to face the conflict between capital and life. We affirm our steps towards the construction of a democracy from spirituality that overcomes the dualities that oppress us, where there is no patriarchy or oppressive system of our bodies and lives, territory and nature.

Indigenous, peasant, black, popular, water and city women, trans and lesbian women, are a force of political expression in defense of life, biodiversity, seeds, knowledge, reforesters that protect life in the Panamazonia. The companies and economic forces that expropriate the territories impose the violation and the governments have a great responsibility for their action, allowing the arrival, exploitation and impunity against the violence that affects women due to the action of extractivism in the territories. These governments are also, themselves, in many territories, agents of these violations.

To overcome this reality, we want to present our proposals and demands to the presidents of the Amazon countries so that they act, adopt institutionalized measures that do not change when the governments of the region change; making the right to a dignified life of indigenous women a reality; respecting their culture and ancestral identity; assuming the commitment to eradicate violence against the bodies of women, girls, cultures and worldviews; guaranteeing their political and citizen rights; stopping violence and threats against women leaders; establishing firm and effective security and sanction measures against the groups and forces that promote violence against women who fight in defense of their territories, biodiversity and their ways of life. In addition, We demand the firm commitment of the Presidents to stop the extractivist offensive that promotes the dispossession and displacement of land in the Amazon basin. This commitment requires that in all processes of dialogue and construction of commitments the presence and word of women’s organizations be guaranteed in the face of the Summit of Presidents of the Amazon.

We, the Andean-Amazonian women, reaffirm ourselves in demanding the recognition of our rights to live a life free of violence, to the enjoyment and access to the territory, to comprehensive health, sexual and reproductive health, to a healthy environment, to intercultural education, to the defense of natural resources, to the enjoyment of our territories.

We call to see the connections between the different points of the agenda for the Pan-Amazon region. We reaffirm the need for national consultations prior to the presidents’ event, because they are an opportunity to present women’s initiatives. Likewise, we will hold a parallel event to the Summit where women have their own voice with the right to be part of the political decisions about our bodies and territories.

PROPOSALS

We present to the presidents of the Amazon the following proposals and demands:

1. Guarantee the right to a dignified life of indigenous women, respecting their culture and ancestral identity.
2. Sanction and eradicate all violence against the bodies of women, girls, cultures and worldviews.
3. Guarantee political and citizen rights and the protection of women’s lives and consolidate security measures for women leaders who are threatened
4. Guarantee a gender approach in the distribution and titling of land.
5. Punish the violence exerted against the bodies and cultures of women and those responsible for the displacement and dispossession of lands in the Amazon basin.
6. Recognize the conditions of vulnerability of Amazonian communities, with emphasis on the eradication of discrimination that is exercised in public establishments towards women.
7. Guarantee that in the regional cooperation structure to be agreed upon by the Summit of Presidents for the Amazon, such as ACTO and the Leticia Pact, there are defined spaces for the binding participation of organized civil society in the development and implementation of policies, programs and projects, as well as for the exercise of oversight and supervision of these initiatives, ensuring specific participation spaces for the women of the Amazon.
8. Guarantee the participation of traditional and indigenous peoples and organized civil society, including women’s organizations, in the management mechanisms of financing funds for the Amazon, at the national and regional levels.
9. Ensure that in all projects for the Amazon, Free, Prior and Informed Consultation protocols are established and carried out, in accordance with Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization, guaranteeing that women are an active part in decision-making.
10. Promote regional integration policies of a popular nature, respecting and promoting the self-determination of the Amazonian peoples;
11. Urge that the proposals and actions of the Charter of Belém (prepared at the X Pan-Amazonian Social Forum) be considered in the planning of the national and subnational governments of the Amazon.