7 June 2012: International Conference “Land-use Change, Socio-environmental Harm and Human Rights Violations in Colombia and Brazil”

Posted on 16/04/2012 by g.muller
On Thursday 7 June 2012 the second international conference of the project “Lands and Rights in Troubled Waters” will be held at Utrecht University.  This conference will present some of the work-in- progress and preliminary results of the first project phase (2010-2012). Alongside presentations by project members about the situation in both regions, external prominent experts are invited as speakers. The conference also aims to serve as a dialogue podium of key community leaders and NGO’s involved in the project with a broad audience of officials, journalists, policy makers and other NGO’s active in the fields and regions focused by LAR. Programme and registration.
On Wednesday 6 June, 18.00 – 21.30, the conference will be introduced with the screening of two documentaries and followed by a debate with our guest speakers from Brazil and Colombia.  “La Toma” – artisanal gold mining versus corporate interests.  “Killerbean – Soja. The story about the crop that is eating up the Amazon”. Programme and registration.
Posted in LAR Project, Netherlands | Leave a comment

Conclusion of the negotiations FAO Voluntary Guidelines on the Tenure of Land Fisheries and Forests

Posted on 12/03/2012 by g.muller
negocations-vg-cfs-march-2012  Last Friday evening, 9 of March, the Committee on Word Food Security (CFS) completed the negotiations of the FAO Voluntary Guidelines on the Tenure of Land Fisheries and Forests. With the successful completion of these negotiations the CFS has clearly shown that it has the capacity to bring a wide variety of social actors to the debate and to seek solutions to one of the most difficult and delicate issues we face today, that of access to natural resources for food production. More than 45 persons representing 20 civil society organisations attended the final round of negotiations. The Guidelines contain valuable points that will provide backing to organisations in their long struggle to ensure the care and use of Resources and Natural Goods in order to secure livelihoods and the right to food. Read more. See video comment (Spanish) on the negociations by Sofía Monsalve/FIAN International.
Posted in LAR Project | Leave a comment

Fourth session of the Inter-ethnic and Inter-generational School of Sustainability/Colombia

Posted on 22/12/2011 by g.muller
escuela-la-sierra-110   On 16th -18th of December  2011 the fourth session of the Inter-ethnic and Inter-generational School of Sustainability was held by Censat Agua Viva in La Sierra / Cauca Valley with the participation of 40 leaders of local organizations and movements. The participants learned about the rights of nature and its reference in the constitution of Ecuador and they shared experiences of indigenous and afro-Colombian cosmology. The school discussed how to integrate the mandates developed during the Congress of the Peoples on land and territory in the work of the local organizations and how to link the local level with the national and regional level.
Posted in Colombia, LAR Project | Leave a comment

Workshop on the Human Right to Food and Access to Land in Puerto Tejada, Cauca/Colombia

Posted on 20/11/2011 by g.muller
taller-con-cccpm-5 The workshop was held by FIAN Colombia with 19 participants of the local communities and local organizations (PCN) on 20th of October in order to discuss the denied access to land of the peasant community Palenque Monteoscuro from a human rights perspective. Awareness was raised regarding the rights of the peasants and the obligations of the Colombian State regarding their citizens. The participants applied the method of social cartography to visualize the history of the land use and food production in the region, including a timeline of the land conflicts in Monteoscuro.
Posted in Colombia, LAR Project | Leave a comment

FAO negotiations: Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests – Civil Society Continues Fight Against Land Grabbing

Posted on 17/10/2011 by g.muller
fao_sofia_monsalve1 Rome, Italy, 17 October 2011 – As the 37th session of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) begins at FAO, civil society organizations (CSO) welcome Saturday’s results of the second round of negotiations on the Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests, and urge governments to conclude negotiations as soon as possible. “I saw several governments attempt to get rid of the human rights approach to the governance of natural resources. It was a tough fight, “said Sofia Monsalve Suárez, a key negotiator and representative of FIAN International. “The use of natural resources for food production is a matter of right and cannot be commoditized.” Interview Sofía Monsalve. Press release. Dakkar Appeal.
Posted in LAR Project | Leave a comment

Increasing violence and intimidation against Indigenous and Afro-Colombians in the Cauca Valley

Posted on 09/10/2011 by g.muller
Indigenous and Afro-Colombian organisations repeatedly reported violent incidences and intimidations against their population and community leaders in the Cauca Valley/municipality of Suárez during the past three months. The increase of violence and harassment goes along with a process of militarisation in their territories. Read Article PCN (Spanish) on the situation in La Toma and article CRIC (Spanish) on the situation in Cerro Tijeras. Go to video (Spanish) about the desperate situation of indigenous communities in Cerro Tijeras/Suárez.
Posted in Colombia | Leave a comment

Third session of the Inter-ethnic and Inter-generational school of Sustainability/Colombia

Posted on 08/10/2011 by g.muller
escuelasustentabilidad3 In the municipality of Guachené/Cauca Valley took place the third session of the inter-ethnic and inter-generational school of sustainability from August 25-27, 2011. The school focused this time on topics such as: socio-environmental conflicts and crises, environmental health. Report (Spanish).
Posted in Colombia, LAR Project | Leave a comment

International Conference on Socio-Environmental Conflicts and Human Rights in Santarém/Brazil

Posted on 07/10/2011 by g.muller
dsc07263klein The international conference on socio-environmental conflicts and human rights that was held on the 18th of August 2011 was the first conference of its kind in Santarém. For the first time local community leaders were able to speak in public and to enter into dialogue with public institutions in an academic setting. In the afternoon session the partners of the project, ‘Lands and Rights in Troubled Waters’ (LAR), presented the first results of their research and capacity building activities in the Cauca Valley/Colombia and the Tapajós Basin/Brazil. Sérgio Sauer, national rapporteur for Human Rights in Land, Territory and Food (Platform DhESCA Brazil), and Flavio Valente, General Secretary of FIAN International (Foodfirst Information & Action Network)  gave a final assessment of the conflicts in both regions. Report. Presentation Censat. Presentation UFOPA.
Posted in Brasil, LAR Project | Leave a comment

Declaration Congress of the Peoples: Land, Territory and Sovereignty

Posted on 05/10/2011 by g.muller
concreso-de-los-pueblos The Congress of the Peoples on Land, Territory and Sovereignty took place from September 30 to October 4 at the Universidad del Valle in Cali. 11 500 delegates from peasant organisations, rural workers, urban workers and dwellers, indigenous, afro-descendants and from organizations of victims of State crime gathered to discuss mandates for the defence of life and the defence of Mother Earth. The congress adopted 7 mandates to realize peoples’ sovereignty in their territories, peace and the protection of Mother Earth. Declaration (English), Declaration (Spanish). Press conference (Spanish). Video final march (Spanish).

Posted in Colombia | Leave a comment

Verification Mission to La Toma/Suárez reports illegal mining activities

Posted on 10/08/2011 by g.muller
misionverificacionlatoma2 The Mission, composed of different social, environmental and human rights organizations and the international community, visited the area of La Toma/municipality of Suárez on July 25, 2011 in order to verify the compliance with the ruling 1045A issued by the Constitutional Court of Colombia from May 2011. The Mission documented ongoing illegal mining activities and the presence of several backhoes, machinery and buildings in the vicinity of the Río Oveja. The illegal mining activities violate the ruling 1045A of the Constitutional Court and constitute an infraction on the law 685. The Mission urges the local authorities to take action. Article and Report (Spanish).
Posted in Colombia, LAR Project | Leave a comment