Women defending land and water in Brazil: MERE Hub launch in Portuguese (watch the webinar)
KAIROS is pleased to announce that MERE Hub is now available in Portuguese with content on the gendered impacts of resource extraction in Brazil.
On Monday, May 31, 2021, the Brazilian phase of MERE Hub with Sônia Guajajara (Indigenous Peoples Articulation, Apib)Maria Júlia Andrade Zanon (MAM, Movement for Popular Sovereignty) was launched. The English and Portuguese recordings of the panel will be available soon.
In case you missed it, watch the webinar in English or in Portuguese:
In Brazil, much like in other countries across the globe, women are at the forefront in the defense of land and water. Women environmental protectors face criminalization and death threats for their efforts. It is not uncommon that public and private security forces, hired by companies and in collusion with governmental officials, target women who are mobilizing in defense of their territories and on behalf of their communities.
Governments and companies have also taken advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to try and open lands for large-scale resource extraction. The Brazilian government has introduced Bill 191/2020, which would permit mining to occur on Indigenous lands and it is quite likely that Canadian companies are set to benefit from this policy change.
And Canada’s mining presence in Brazil has had detrimental impacts on communities and the environment. In the last six years, for example, local communities have reported at least three tailings dam collapses associated with Canadian companies: Mariana (2015), Brumadinho (2019), and most recently Godofredo Viana (2021).
The virtual event will also include a brief presentation by the Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability (CNCA) on why Canada must pass mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence (mHREDD) legislation. The CNCA, of which KAIROS is a member, continues to demand that the Government of Canada grant investigatory powers to the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Business Enterprise (CORE); mHREDD legislation would be a complement to an empowered CORE.
Mother Earth and Resource Extraction: Women Defending Land and Water (MERE Hub) is a living digital resource hub developed for and in consultation with women land and water defenders who are at the forefront in the protection of the environment, in Canada and across the globe. The hub brings together a range of original and existing material to support research, advocacy, information sharing, and movement building.
Please note that English-Portuguese interpretation will be provided.
KAIROS would like to thank Fabricio Télo who not only had the idea for MERE Hub Brazil but also generously translated content into Portuguese and submitted resources on land and water defense in Brazil.
