Berta Lives! COPINH Continues – Women’s Activism Faces Intensifying Risks – Power of Collective Advocacy
Author: WUNRN
Date: September 19, 2017
International Journal on Human Rights – July 2017 – http://sur.conectas.org/en/berta-lives-copinh-continues/
Via JASS-Just Associates
COPINH – The Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras
Berta lives! COPINH continues…,
Direct Link to FULL 2017 Article: http://sur.conectas.org/en/
ABSTRACT
Berta Cáceres was assassinated one year ago. COPINH both celebrates and mourns at the same time: we cry for the loss of Berta while we celebrate the birth of the organisation she began and left as a legacy to inspire us in this harsh context where persecution and death await those who defend nature and life. Its past marked by war and inequality, Central America is now dealing with large-scale extraction projects that are at the heart of the economic model being imposed in the region. Women activists are on the frontline of resistance. They defend their communities from the destruction that large mining, monoculture and mega-dam projects cause, and at the same time challenge traditional roles and build a new paradigm of life together with their communities. With our allies, JASS promotes and supports the construction of women’s collective power and the strengthening of their movements so they may withstand the attacks of megaprojects that tear apart mountains, dry up rivers, consume the water and prevent them from growing their own food.
August 24, 2017 — Defending territory and land is defending life itself. This is a common sentiment expressed by many women activists with whom we work. They are talking about the survival of their communities and way of life, the health of their waters, lands, forests, and all the biodiversity therein. Increasingly, they are also talking about the lives of community members who organize to protect our shared ecosystem.
Today, the international community has greater recognition and awareness of the dangers that activism entails, particularly for indigenous and rural communities fighting extractive development that threatens their basic livelihoods and cultures. Their opposition is met with threats and violence in many forms. Look no further than the platform recently published by the Guardian and Global Witness, which tracks the killings of environmental activists in real time. So far 117 have been killed this year.
But this is just one side of the story. In the face of intensifying risk, what sustains activists’ capacity to continue this work? We are delighted to share with you a recent article by JASS’ Patricia Ardon and Daysi Flores, Berta lives! COPINH continues…, published in the Sur International Journal of Human Rights that sheds light on this question. They describe how activists and communities draw on hope, love, rich cultural traditions, the power of their collective vision and commitment to build a better future for all. The article provides an in-depth contextual and historical analysis of rising repression in the region, while bringing to life the vision and beauty of the work to defend territories and the creative strategies women are using in this work. At the core of their struggle is the fight for an alternative way of life, “a fight to keep alive their visions of the world in which humans coexist with the rivers, mountains, forests and oceans in ways that guarantee our common survival.” The article underscores these insights:
- The violence and crackdown on activists has historical roots: “the closure of democratic spaces for people’s participation and the defense of their rights is threatening the few advances that have been made.”
- Women are courageously challenging an extractive economic model, while imagining an alternative that improves lives and promotes community, resilience, and wellbeing for people and the planet.
- The struggle is collective—it is for all of us: “For decades, women have been the voice that reclaims the rights of not only women, but all of society.”
- The struggle is beyond survival: it is a fight against all forms of oppression and a feminist analysis plays a central role in ensuring that gender, context, history etc., are integrated in all strategies for change.
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