The Training Program was created in response to the urgent needs of Indigenous defenders across Latin America, who face highly vulnerable conditions as they fight to protect the rights of their peoples and safeguard the environment against ongoing threats from governments and private corporations.
This program is specifically designed to strengthen the capacities of Indigenous leaders and lawyers who are at the forefront of legal processes defending their territories and collective rights. It provides them with legal, strategic, and political tools to face these challenges with greater effectiveness and resilience.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT FOR DEFENDERS?
We seek to develop skills and provide tools to communities defending their earth rights. This is especially important in Latin America, where environmental defenders have become increasingly vulnerable to violence and danger.
The Seminario is a space for forging connections and building community among people committed to fighting for their human and environmental rights.
“I believe one of the most interesting things about this space is finding so many open struggles, so many emerging and positive movements in defense of the territory.”
-Participant in the IV Seminar and defender of Guatemala
THE PROGRAM THROUGH THE YEARS
This space has existed annually since 2015, and over the years, we have brought together defenders from countries such as Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, Mexico, Guatemala, Paraguay, Bolivia, and Chile, among others. These defenders have the opportunity to learn and engage in mutual learning about topics related to the rights of Indigenous peoples, land, territory, self-determination, prior consultation, consent, women’s rights, strategic litigation, political advocacy, communication, and campaigns.
