According to the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), the number of Spaniards dedicated to international cooperation is 2,842, according to the study carried out by the Spanish Cooperation, through the Spanish Cooperation Agency (AECID) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation (MAEC), with the collaboration of its Overseas Cooperation Units (UCE) and the Spanish Embassies located in countries eligible for Official Development Assistance (ODA).
According to the study, conducted with recent data, women working in development cooperation abroad make up 561% of the total. By age, 77% of Spanish professionals are over 35.
Regarding the geographic areas of work, the majority (471 TP3T) of workers are located in sub-Saharan Africa. Meanwhile, 221 TP3T are located in South America, 151 TP3T in Central America and the Caribbean, and the same number of 51 TP3T in the Asia-Pacific region, the Maghreb region, and the Middle East and Near East.
This year, on the occasion of this day dedicated to the world's cooperatives, the Coordinating Committee of NGOs of Spain (CONGDE) has published the following statement to denounce the plight of hundreds of people around the world who defend the environment and natural resources.
CONGDE STATEMENT:
Last year saw a record number of deaths: 185 people were killed for defending their land. According to the report, "Dangerous terrain", from the NGO People Witness2015 was the worst year in history in this regard. The country with the highest number of murders is Brazil, where they lost their lives 50 people.
Numerous Spanish NGOs They work hand in hand with movements defending forests, rivers, and natural resources. Their support work allows them to offer greater protection and raise international alarm when threats arise. However, the cooperators They are aware of being another piece in a complex mechanism in which Their performances are essential, although limitedThe various actors involved—local governments, international bodies, transnational corporations, etc.—must assume their responsibilities.
In this sense, the setback suffered by Spanish cooperation policy has led to a weakening of this type of action. A situation that reflects the lack of political responsibility to protect people and communities in situations of extreme vulnerability. Cooperation funds must be recovered and advanced to the 0.4% in the next legislative term.
The next government must ensure that there is a coherence between their policies so that all of them contribute to sustainable development in the countries in which they operate. Multinational companies must respect the environment and the rights of communitiesThe plundering of resources and human rights violations must be effectively prosecuted. The murders of environmental activists must be investigated to determine direct and indirect responsibility for the crimes. Impunity must cease to be the norm.
Some processes that our NGOs and cooperators accompany
BRAZIL. Support for "the gardeners of the world." (Entreculturas)
Of the 160 human groups without contact with the West, 145 are in the Amazon, more than 100 of them in BrazilThe lands they inhabit are rich in environmental wealth, attracting predatory invasion by extractive companies. There are increasingly fewer unspoiled spaces where Indigenous peoples can live freely and safeguard their ancestral rights.
They suffer the violence by hired gunmen by agribusiness, logging, oil, mining, hydroelectric companies... The remoteness of their lands prevents information about systematic human rights violations from reaching beyond the area, thus contributing to their persistence.
Between cultures works hand in hand with the Missionary Indigenous Council in the accompaniment of the “last free peoples"in the defense of their lands. Their daily work helps prevent invasions and the plundering of resources. The work they do is an important part of putting pressure on the competent authorities to ensure that land protection is guaranteed. And, without a doubt, they serve as an international platform to denounce the violence that large multinationals and landowners inflict on the "gardeners of the world”.
PARAGUAY. Defense of the Ayoreo's isolation and their lands and forests. (Manos Unidas)
The Ayoreo are a cross-border indigenous people whose traditional historical territory spans the southern Bolivian Chaco and the northern Paraguayan Chaco. Thanks to their struggle over the past twenty years, They have achieved the restitution of some 121,600 hectares of forests, preserved thanks to their continuous work of control and defense.
One of the rights they claim is that of isolationThis tribe still has relatives from recent generations who remain in the last forests of their territory, avoiding contact with other people. However, the constant and accelerated deforestation in the area forces them to constantly flee.
In recent years they have managed to make the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights establishes precautionary measures These laws oblige the Paraguayan State to protect forests, recognize ownership of ancestral Indigenous territories, and prevent unwanted contact. However, no Paraguayan authority has taken effective measures to halt the advance of deforestation. The process of effective restitution of lands pending registration and titling has been paralyzed for several years because the State does not allocate sufficient resources to do so, does not protect the territory, or prevent deforestation of its forests.
United Hands Support this people in the defense of their lands, their forests, and their right to isolation. Together with the Paraguayan NGO People, Environment and Territory contributes to the defense of the rights of the Ayoreo people. The volunteers embrace their demands as their own and as part of their commitment to solidarity and the defense of human rights anywhere in the world.
HONDURAS. Berta Cáceres's struggle lives on. (Oxfam Intermón)
The Council Civic of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) is leading the fight against the Agua Zarca dam. The construction of this dam, directed by the Chinese company Sinohydro, will force the Lenca Indigenous people from their territory and deprive them of access to the waters of the Gualcarque River.
The opposition of the towns to this type of construction is costing a lot. Last March activist Berta Cáceres was murdered for opposing this project. There have subsequently been two other deaths allegedly linked to this peasant struggle; the latest being that of Lesbia Yaneth Urquía, last July. Both the people who are part of COPINH and the Lenca indigenous population suffer constants aggressions at gunpoint, poisoning of their crops, constant threats and harassment.
Oxfam Intermón is maintaining a campaign to demand the cancellation of the Agua Zarca project and the withdrawal of investment banks, as well as the legal recognition of the land rights of threatened indigenous peoples. The volunteers working hand in hand with COPINH defend the land and rights of the Lenca people against the actions of corporations and the ineffectiveness of the Honduran state.
BRAZIL. Working with Quilombolas, communities descended from slaves. (Inspiraction)
The indigenous and quilombola peoples of Oriximiná (Pará region) in the Brazilian Amazon have been more than 15 years claiming ownership of the lands on which they live, while mining and logging operations are expanding almost unchecked in the region. Mineração Rio Norte, the largest bauxite producer in Brazil, supplying markets in Europe, the United States, Canada, and China, continues its expansion by occupying quilombola lands.
“We need ownership of our lands because it is the only way to stop the invasion of the mining and logging industry."They enter our territories without consulting us and deforest everything," says Aluízio Silvério dos Santos, leader of an association representing nearly 1,500 quilombolas in Oriximiná. Despite the fact that the Brazilian Federal Constitution guarantees these peoples' rights to their lands, the more than 4,000 Indigenous people and 10,000 quilombolas in Oriximiná have still not been able to obtain title to their lands.
The quilombolas of Oriximiná are descendants of black populations who fled slavery in the 19th century. Inspiration works with them hand in hand with the Pro-Indian Commission of São Paulo in defense of nature, which, according to the Oriximiná, “is the mother; it is not for sale or negotiation.”
