CESE newsletter_december 2022
CESE’s team will be on collective vacation from 21 December 2022 to 22 January 2023! But there’s still time to check out some of the activities that closed our doors this year! There was a roundtable conversation between popular communicators from the Cerrado and journalists from the alternative press, the national meeting of FEACT and a supported project of the Peasant Women’s Movement.
Team and Board come together at CESE’s annual evaluation meeting
2022 was the year that CESE officially returned to in-person activities. After two years of online working, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the team returned to the office and, little by little, revived its in-person and direct exchange of experiences with the groups the organization supports, with churches and with many other partners in the struggle. A lot of activities were undertaken over the year and CESE was present on many fronts. To analyse the year’s results and challenges, and set out expectations for 2023, on 12 December, the CESE team and its Board met for the organization’s annual evaluation.
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From organic insecticides to debates about environmental racism, Racism and Food Systems project supported a range of initiatives in 2022
The 30 November was set aside for a moment of assessment within the “Racism and Food Systems” project, run by CESE in partnership with the Ibirapitanga Institute. Representatives of the groups that participated in the training sessions and whose projects were supported throughout 2022 came together to share their impressions of what worked well in the project, and what could be improved for future partnerships.
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Defending democracy and confronting fundamentalism are themes of national meeting of the ACT (Brazil) Ecumenical Forum
Dreams, bridges, affection, communion, diversity, memory, pathways, care, love and commitment were some of the words that marked the National Meeting of the ACT (Brazil) Ecumenical Forum (Fórum Ecumênico ACT Brasil: FEACT), which took place between 28 and 30 November in the Federal District of Brasilia. Present at the meeting were representatives of the ecumenical movement organizations, churches, faith-based organizations and ecumenical cooperation agencies that constitute FEACT.
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CESE hosts meeting to bring together communicators from the Cerrado and journalists from the alternative media
Although fundamental to the existence of the Cerrado, the Amazon, the Pantanal and other territories, it is hard for these populations to receive positive coverage in the mass media. Dominated by politicians and those involved in agribusiness, who are often themselves media outlet proprietors, the hegemonic media chooses only to consider tragedies as legitimate news, without focusing on those responsible for environmental destruction.
Faced with these challenges, on 29 November, CESE hosted a “Virtual Conversation Circle — Strategic Communication: narratives and knowledge of the people of the Cerrado”. The meeting was intended to provide listening experiences and knowledge exchange between communications collectives, journalists from the alternative press, and ecumenical and grassroots organizations working in the struggle and defence of rights.
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The Amazonian Knowledge Exchange: from the impacts fundamentalism has on communities to socio-environmental protection
The time set aside for the “Amazonian Knowledge Exchange” constituted a landmark in policy, given what we have seen over recent years and, most particularly, what we cannot lose sight of, as social movements formed of indigenous peoples, traditional communities and faith-based organizations. The exchange concluded the programme of the “‘The Amazon for All the Struggles” meeting, held on 10 November in Manaus.
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Recognition and survival: products of a regulatory compliance initiative for indigenous associations in the Brazilian Amazon
Community Development Association of the Marubo People of Alto do Rio Curuca (ASDEC) hadn’t been able to access external funds — such as grant funding — since 2007, when it began having problems declaring its income tax to the Federal Revenue Service. The situation only changed in 2021, when the group participated in the initiative of Institutional Strengthening for Indigenous Associations, run by CESE in partnership with the Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB).
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Black Consciousness Day and what hasn’t changed in racist Brazil
The Network of Public Security Observatories threw light on an ludicrous fact when, in 2021, it noted that 100% of the people murdered by the military police in Bahia the previous year were black. One year later and the picture is no different. Published on 17 November, the network’s new report stated that, of the 616 people killed as a result of intervention by state agents in 2021, 603 were black. At CESE, we understand racism to be a generator of injustices against black people and have always supported movements, organizations and groups from this sector of society.
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Youth Forum of Pernambuco (FOJUPE) promotes discussions about digital rights and mobilizing support
The Youth Forum of Pernambuco (FOJUPE) received support from CESE’s Small Projects Programme to strengthen activities for Young People’s August and invest in drafting a communications plan focused on digital rights and the development of activities to mobilize support. The project “Young People and Digital Rights: Training and Practice to Mobilize Support” included training sessions for 20 young people from the state of Pernambuco in how to use digital media, and produce visual and audio-visual content. The initiative also involved the production of a mini-documentary, recording the entire Young People for Democracy Cultural Festival, held on 24 September 2022.
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Project runs care and knowledge circles for women in Petrolina
Women from Petrolina have benefitted from a series of professional and practical training sessions in self-care, through Care and Knowledge Circles held at the Grassroots Training Centre, an initiative of the Anglican Association of the Northeast and Solidarity Hands Petrolina, supported by CESE’s Small Projects Programme. In 2022, approximately 80 people were trained by the centre, mostly women.
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ANA Amazon project fosters innovative agroecological initiatives in municipalities in the Brazilian Amazon, with support from CESE
The installation and consolidation of at least 250 agroecological territories by 2024 –vegetable gardens, agroforestry systems, community orchards and schools — in two cities in Pará: Igarapé-Miri and Cametá. This is one of the targets in the Municipal Plans for Agro-ecology and Organic Production. These documents grew out of action to mobilize support from the initiative ‘Agroecology in the Municipalities’ (AnM).
The AnM is an initiative of the National Agroecology Coalition (ANA) which works to strengthen the agroecology agenda in Brazil through the promotion, support and systematization of work to fundraise and mobilize support at municipal level, aimed at creating and enhancing public policies, programmes and similar within this sphere. In the states of the Brazilian Amazon, it is headed by ANA Amazon and several activities, including those that resulted in the construction of these plans, have been supported by CESE.
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Favelas News Agency promotes Edu-communication practices in Salvador’s city peripheries
To break down social and political barriers to produce diverse communications. This is the commitment undertaken by the Favelas News Agency (ANF), a domestic non-governmental organization that promotes practices for the democratization of communication. In Salvador, one highlight is the Digital Youth Project — Edu-communication Connecting Pathways, which is supported by CESE through its Small Projects Programme.
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Meeting of Project Agents: concepts of race/ethnicity, gender and class are used by capitalism to subjugate populations
Every year, 10 small rivers are lost to water contamination. Over the last 3 years, Brazil has broken records in terms of agribusiness production, just as it has broken records in the number of people facing hunger. These are two pieces of scientific data that clearly demonstrate the impact capitalism has on the planet as a whole. Both are directly linked to the issues of Gender, Race/Ethnicity, Class and the Cerrado.
This was discussed by women who represent these peoples during the Meeting of Project Agents (MPA), held by CESE in partnership with HEKS-Eper between 11 and 13 October. The meeting debated development, the impact of agri- and water businesses, and mining on the territories; climate change; and alternative socio-economic experiences; all points that guided discussions about gender, race/ethnicity and class in relation to the territories of the Cerrado.
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Coalition publicizes third phase of the Agri is Fire Dossier “Brazil in Flames: political power in the wake of the fires”
On 13 October, the third phase of the AGRI IS FIRE DOSSIER was launched. The event was held, in person, in the Margarida Alves Auditorium at the offices of the National Confederation of Agricultural Workers (CONTAG) in Brasilia and broadcast via the Agri is Fire Coalition’s YouTube channel and Facebook page, and the Facebook pages of the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT) and CESE. In 7 cases and 5 articles, the new phase discusses the links between criminal fires and members of a political project that is also part of the legislative and is involved in secret budgets, the signing off of draft bills, environmental budget cuts and even omissions by governments in the face of agrarian conflicts in Brazil.
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Wetlander communities gather in defence of the Cerrado
A space to strengthen wetlanders and traditional communities in Norte de Minas. This was the intention of the 3rd Meeting and Exchange of the Traditional Wetlander Communities, run by the Rosalino Gomes Coalition of Traditional Peoples and Communities, on 9, 10 and 11 September in the Traditional Japão Wetlander Community in the municipality of Bonita de Minas. Approximately 300 people participated in the event, which brought together the peoples who inhabit the wetlands and who have risen up to guard the waters in the Cerrado’s arid environment. The initiative was supported by CESE through its Small Projects Programme and commemorated National Cerrado Day.
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Project ensures connectivity for Vale do Javari indigenous association
In the Vale do Javari nature is dense and challenging meaning that isolated indigenous people and other groups face connection challenges at a time when the swift circulation of information can save lives and help to preserve territory. To overcome this barrier, the Community Development Association of the Marubo People of Alto do Rio Curuca (ASDEC) created the Connected Villages project, funded by CESE’s Small Projects Programme, which has improved internet access for ASDEC’s offices in Atalaia do Norte, directly expanding the reach of 50 people and improving communications with members who live in the Maronal village and surroundings.
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Collective vacation
CESE’s team will be on collective vacation from 21 December 2022 to 22 January 2023. We’ll all be back on 23 January 2023 at 8am, Bahia time.
