About IWGIAProjects in South America
Thematic priorities
In Central and South America, IWGIA has developed its strategy around the following thematic priorities:
Organisational empowerment
Over the last 25 years, a significant number of indigenous organisations have been established in Latin America at local, regional and national level. Despite their long history, most organisations require external technical and financial assistance. IWGIA believes that strengthening the indigenous organisations through leadership training, communication with the grassroots and exchanges of experience with other indigenous organisations is essential.
Land Rights
Over the last 15 years, the titling of wide areas of land has been achieved in favour of indigenous peoples. IWGIA considers the defence and consolidation of indigenous territories to be its main work priority.
Gender
Many indigenous organisations are beginning to see the importance of giving women a more active and decisive role and the number of organisations that express concern for women's issues is increasing. There is also a growing number of women's organisations, and issues – such as women's legal rights, women's knowledge and control of natural resources, domestic violence, women's rights versus traditional norms, etc. - are now increasingly being discussed.
Youth
IWGIA intends to focus particularly on indigenous youth groups, particularly those living in urban areas (who have migrated from their communities because of poverty or armed conflict), helping them to discuss their situation and their future as indigenous people with indigenous youths from other countries.
International issues
Over the last decades, new spaces have opened up at international level that could be used by indigenous organisations to promote their interests. IWGIA has organised a series of consultation workshops in the region such as, for example, around the election process for indigenous representatives to the UN Permanent Forum and on the OAS Declaration.
Awareness Raising
IWGIA combines financial support to indigenous organisations with awareness raising around the problems they face. In order to do this, we have been developing a publications programme, which we try to supplement with public national and international campaigns.
Partners
In Colombia we support the Jenzera Working Group, which works with afro-Colombian and indigenous peoples in the Pacific region who continue to be particularly affected by the armed conflict in the country.
In Peru, IWGIA has been collaborating since 1989 with the national indigenous organisation AIDESEP, providing assistance for its institutional strengthening and for the land titling programme for Amazonian communities. We also support Servindi, which produces a weekly, broad and detailed information service on the indigenous situation in the continent through the internet: http://www.servindi.org
In Bolivia we are currently working with the Centre for Legal and Social Studies (http://www.cejis.org/), which provides assistance for indigenous and peasant communities in land conflicts.
In Argentina, IWGIA works with the Lhaka Honhat organisation of the Chaco region in Salta, which groups Wichi, Toba and Chorote communities who are demanding the titling of their ancestral lands. Through an agreement with the Centre for Legal and Social Studies, IWGIA also funds support for indigenous demands against the Argentine state at the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights.
Finally, in Chile we support the Observatory of Indigenous Rights in Temuco, the work of the Lafkenche Identity in the VIII region in the country, the Mapuche Coordinator, the Council of All Lands and the Mapuche NGO Liwen.