Land is Life joins the 38th anniversary celebrations of COICA (Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin). COICA represents 511 Indigenous communities across 9 countries and is dedicated to making their voices heard in national, regional, and international spaces. COICA fights for the territorial rights and self-determination of Indigenous peoples across the Amazon basin and is committed to strengthening their unity and collaboration in the face of shared challenges.
Land is Life and COICA have been working closely for the past years to improve the territorial and human rights of the peoples of the Amazon basin. One of our most recent collaborations has been the establishment of women-led communal banks, called “Seeds of Abundance”. Beisy Arana, an Uwottüja leader from Venezuela, and Regional Coordinator of the initiative, shares the key idea and outcomes of the pilot project:
“The project was developed as a response to the economic challenges that many Indigenous women across the Amazon region have been facing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The idea was to strengthen their entrepreneurship by enhancing their traditional skills and innovations from the perspective of Indigenous economy.
The communal banks have built capacity in the local communities by facilitating saving as well as access to loans for the women entrepreneurs. Capacity building was also provided to the coordinating national organizations of AIDESEP in Peru, CIDOB in Bolivia, CONFENIAE in Ecuador, OPIAC in Colombia, and ORPIA in Venezuela.
Collective decision-making has played a fundamental role throughout the whole process. Monthly meetings were organized among the national leaders and the regional working group. The success of the communal banks rests on the mutual trust and commitment of each member, as the women that founded the banks were already organized on the local and communal levels.”
With the project, 10 communal banks, with 186 members, have been established across the five countries. “Seeds of Abundance” demonstrates that by establishing networks and collective ideas we are able to stand strong in front of common challenges. Learn more about the project by watching two video clips here and here.
Land is Life congratulates COICA for their determined commitment in elevating Indigenous rights throughout their 38-years-long journey!
