Servindi, 28 August 2014.- Thanks to an appeal made by the Unity Pact of Indigenous Organizations of Peru, a Political Organizing Committee for the Alternative Peoples' Summit on Climate Change was formed in a meeting held on Tuesday 26.
The landmark agreement was reached in the auditorium of the National Agrarian Confederation (CNA), in the center of Lima, where The Unity Pact organized a workshop and coordination assembly.
In this way, the agenda of activities to promote the Alternative Summit will be coordinated to articulate the social movements with the common purpose of making the voice of the people be heard at the United Nations Climate Summit COP 20.
Coordinated efforts
Antolin Huascar, president of the ANC, and Gladis Vila, president of the National Organization of Indigenous Women ONAMIAP, in their roles as coordinator and spokesperson, respectively, of the Unity Pact, explained the program of activities that will be promoted by the indigenous and peasant organizations in Peru.
The meeting served to coordinate efforts, initiatives and aims for the Alternative People's Summit and to strengthen the indigenous people view that will help shed light on one of the global actors most vulnerable to climate change as well as capable of making strong adaptation proposals.
Integrated agenda
The indigenous people´s delegation from the Peruvian provinces will arrive in Lima on Monday the 8th of December.
The opening spiritual ceremonies and offerings will be performed with the participation of international indigenous delegations, after which the Alternative Summit agenda will be presented in the plenary.
On Tuesday, the 9th, national and international thematic groups of indigenous peoples, social sectors, academics, youth groups, trade unions, students and others will be installed, and will work to develop proposals.
On Wednesday the 10th, the Great Global March in Defense of Mother Earth will take place that will show the extraordinary cultural diversity of the indigenous peoples of Peru and the world.
These activities will be complemented by artistic and cultural gatherings every night.
On Thursday the 11th, an international delegation will attend the official COP 20 to deliver the demands of the Alternative Peoples' Summit.
Unity spirit
The Tuesday 26meeting was attended by prominent social leaders like Gustavo Gorriti of the General Confederation of Workers of Peru (CGTP), the largest union in the country, Rivera Zea Tarcila from the Continental Network of Indigenous Women, and Lourdes Huanca, president of the indigenous women's organization FEMUCARINAP.
In addition to the Unity Pact, Lourdes Huanca represents the Latin American Coordinator of Rural Organizations (CLOC) which is a member of Via Campesina.
Among other people that participated were Javier Jahncke from the Muqui Network, Moises Quispe Quispe from the National Association of Organic Producers and Agricultural Organizations Alliance (AOA), Luis Hallazi from the Territorios Seguros Collective, Osver Carrasco Polo from the Construyendo Puentes Network, Rocío Valdeavellano from the Peru COP 20 Group, and César Gamboa from DAR.
The event also gathered various institutions and social organizations, unions, federations, NGO´s, youth and student associations wishing to join the process of citizen mobilization regarding climate change in Peru.
Approaches and themes for a national climate agenda
The Unity Pact intends to implement cross-cutting approaches to climate change which take into account the holistic worldview of indigenous peoples.
Climate change is not only a problem of the environment, resources or greenhouse gas emissions, but of social, economic and power relations that harm Mother Earth.
Therefore, the Pact proposes seven approaches to climate change that focus on: human rights, eco-systemic, territorial, differentiated and intercultural, gender, generational, multi-stakeholder and comprehensive.
It also proposes five topics: a) Protecting the diversity of ecosystems with territorial governance; b) Reducing climate vulnerability and manage risk to protect life and health, c) Prioritizing community-based adaptation for a territorial resilience, d) Protecting the water, agriculture and food for a healthy lifestyle, and e) Public policy to build a low carbon society of Buen Vivir.
Public discussions every Tuesday, until December
The Unity Pact has been making its climate change proposals (PDF, 4 pages) known disseminating them in public forums and decentralized workshops in Cusco, Chiclayo, Huancayo and Pucallpa from March to June.
The Unity Pact also participated in a panel at the Second Communications and Democracy Conference that took place in Lima from August 14 to 16 at the Antonio Ruiz de Montoya University (UARM) with indigenous communicators from various regions of the country.
The auditorium of the National Agrarian Confederation (CNA) will remain available until December 2014 for meetings when the Alternative People's Summit and the COP20 Climate Conference will take place in Lima.
Read the Indigenous Peoples Proposals on Climate Change here (PDF, 4 pages)
The Unity PactThe purpose of the Pact is to strengthen the national indigenous movement and build joint proposals on the way to exercise self-determination and practice “Buen Vivir” (“Good Living”). The generic term indigenous or native peoples include various ways of organization: peasant and indigenous communities, rondas campesinas, rural organizations and associations, among others, which self-identify and are recognized as indigenous. The Unity Pact consists of the following organizations:
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Translated from Spanish by Luis Manuel Claps for IWGIA and Servindi.
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