Last week, the Amerindian Peoples Association (APA) joined its partners and Indigenous Women defenders from across the Amazon Basin at the first Women Land Is Life meeting in Tena, Cundinamarca, Colombia. From August 24 to 27, Indigenous Women from Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, French Guiana, Suriname, and Venezuela gathered to share the threats to their peoples and territories and the strategies they have built from their autonomy.
Policy Officers Sharon La Rose and Felecia Valenzuela represented the APA.
The women shared the challenges in their territories, ranging from the absence of the State, extractive pressures, gender-based violence, criminalisation, and the lack of women’s participation in governance structures.
For generations, indigenous women of the Amazon have been on the frontline, leading the fight for their rights and communities. From this historic encounter, they created the Alliance of Amazonian Indigenous Women (AMA). The alliance aims to create a safe, supportive space to strengthen existing processes and initiatives to defend
their territories, rights, and autonomy while addressing the disproportionate challenges Amazonian Indigenous women face.
At the end of the meeting, the women signed onto a declaration highlighting four priority issues, namely:
- Violations of Territory – Loss of land threatens cultural identity, food sovereignty, and safety, while increasing gender-based violence and limiting leadership opportunities.
- Gender-Based Violence – Territorial conflicts exacerbate physical, psychological, and structural violence against Indigenous women, including sexual violence and human trafficking.
- Lack of Recognition and Participation – Indigenous women face exclusion from decision-making spaces at institutional and community levels, limiting their ability to contribute to governance and autonomy.
- Criminalisation – Women leaders defending their territories face persecution, stigmatisation, and judicialization.
The AMA, in its declaration, committed to the following five objectives:
- Defend life, rights, health, knowledge systems, and territories of Indigenous women, while eradicating gender-based violence and criminalisation.
- Advocate internationally for territorial and climate rights, emphasising protection for Indigenous women.
- Strengthen Indigenous governance and ensure active participation of women in decision-making spaces.
- Establish protection mechanisms for Indigenous women and girls in contexts of violence, in coordination with governments and international organisations.
- Monitor and report human rights violations affecting Indigenous women in the Amazon.
The declaration also emphasised the vital role of Indigenous women as guardians of the Amazon and knowledge systems essential for planetary health. It concludes with a commitment to resistance, dignity, and defending their territories and future.