Indigenous people demand substantive participation in UN spaces

FRIDAY FILE: AWID spoke with Mirna Cunningham, President of the Center for the Autonomy and Development of Indigenous Peoples, about the recent UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and the importance of participating substantively in this and other preparatory processes towards the World Conference of Indigenous People (WCIP) in September 2014.

Women Take a Stand Against Monsanto Across Latin America

FRIDAY FILE: This year, on World Food Day, 52 countries organized a Global Day of Action Against Monsanto that became a catalyzer for several expressions of resistance against this corporation. In this Friday File we take a look at actions in three Latin American countries, where women are taking the lead in resistance movements.

By Gabriela De Cicco

World Conference of Indigenous Women: "Progress and Challenges Regarding the Future We Want"

FRIDAY FILE: The 2013 World Conference of Indigenous Women "Progress and Challenges Regarding the Future we Want" held from October 28-30 2013, in Lima, Peru, was attended by about 300 Indigenous women leaders from Africa, Asia, Latin America, North America, the Artic, Russia and the Pacific.[1]

By Gabriela De Cicco

Women Teachers Defending Their Labor Rights Under Extremely Precarious Conditions In Mexico

FRIDAY FILE - Excluded from the debate on educational reform, women teachers, who represent more than 96% of teachers in preschool, 66% in basic education and 51% in secondary school, are protesting against a new law that will affect them negatively, especially those working in rural and indigenous communities.[1]

By Katherine Ronderos

Evaluating Cairo+20 and looking toward 2015

FRIDAY FILE – During the First session of the Regional Conference on Population and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean that took place in Montevideo, 12-15 August 2013, AWID spoke to women’s rights activists from the region about the progress made in the Cairo+20 agenda and their perspectives on the Post-2015 agenda on sustainable development.

Idle No More: Women Leading Action for Indigenous Rights in Canada

FRIDAY FILE: Idle No More (INM) is a Canadian resistance and protest indigenous people’s movement that kicked off last year. AWID spoke with Dr. Lynn Gehl* (Gii-Zhigaate Mnidookwe), an indigenous human rights advocate, about the movement.

By Gabriela De Cicco

Guatemala Genocide Trial – Women Seeking the Truth

AWID spoke to Maya Alvarado, Executive Director of Unión Nacional de Mujeres Guatemaltecas (UNAMG) about the historic trial in which Guatemala’s former dictator and chief of military intelligence are charged with genocide and crimes against humanity, the first such trial to take place in the Central American country.

Defending ancestral lands: Indigenous Women Human Rights Defenders in the Philippines

FRIDAY FILE - Murders of indigenous women human rights defenders (WHRDs) in the Philippines have caused worldwide condemnation. Defending indigenous communities’ rights to sustainable livelihoods, and protecting ancestral lands from mining interests has become an increasingly dangerous struggle.

Paraguay Parliamentary Coup: Another strike against Latin American democracy

FRIDAY FILE: On June 22, 2012, almost three years after the coup d’etat in Honduras, the Paraguayan Senate removed President Fernando Lugo from office after finding him guilty of impeachment in a 39 to 4 vote.

AWID talked with Paraguayan political scientist and feminist lawyer Line Bareiro about this situation.

By Gabriela De Cicco

The Ngöbe-Buglé’s Community Resistance

FRIDAY FILE: Between January and February 2012, while demonstrating against the passing of a law violating their human and territorial rights, the Ngöbe-Buglé indigenous community from Panama suffered brutal repression. AWID spoke to Mariela Arce (1) about this situation.

By Gabriela De Cicco