Lucha Indígena por el Medioambiente en Latinoamérica

Date & time: Thursday 27th July, 5.30-7.00pm
Location: Online via Zoom (registration is necessary)
Language: Spanish

Description:
Indigenous communities in Latin America are at the forefront of the fight for environmental and climate justice. They face multiple threats to their lands, health, cultures and livelihoods, caused by climate change, large-scale extractivist projects by transnational corporations, and a lack of political representation. Despite indigenous peoples having an internationally recognised right to their land, territories and resources, their territories are regularly encroached upon by industrial megaprojects that destroy their ecosystems, displace local communities and cause extreme violence. Faced with these violations of their individual and collective rights, and the increase in natural disasters caused by global warming, indigenous communities and leaders across Latin America are mobilising to protect their territories and the environment. 

The JHU-UPF Public Policy Center is delighted to invite two individuals who are enormously dedicated to this struggle to share their experiences and knowledge in this Policy Dialogues: Mercedes Tunubalá Velasco and Leonardo Cerda Tapuy.

Speakers:
Mamá Mercedes Tunubalá Velasco is an Ishuk Misak (Misak woman) from Colombia. Economist, specialised in Project Management from the Universidad del Valle. She was the first indigenous woman to become mayor of the Silvia Cauca municipality, and one of the first indigenous women in Colombia to be a mayor. She has a long trajectory of fighting for her community and its territory.

Leonardo Leonel Cerda Tapuy is a young Kichwa activist from the Serena community in Ecuador. Licenced in International Relations at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito, and specialised in Public Administration at Konkuk University Seúl, South Korea. He is Founder of the Black and Indigenous Liberation Movement (BILM) and Executive and Founder of the Hakhu Amazonia Foundation, which works to defend the territories of the Amazonian countries in Latin America.

This session will be moderated by Beatriz Rodríguez-Labajos, Beatriu de Pinós researcher at the JHU-UPF Public Policy Center. Expert in ecological economics and environmental justice, Beatriz has carried out a large part of her research in collaboration with researches in Latin America, particularly Colombia and Mexico.
 
For more information and to register, click here.