Women who are fighting for a better world have gathered in Silves, Amazonas to form a collective of leaders from traditional communities who believe in sustainable, economically viable, and socially just development. Together they are learning how to make this possible.
The Amazon Resistance Women’s Group, led by Márcia Ruth, president of ASPAC (the Silves Association for Environmental and Cultural Preservation), has created a space for women to skill up through training in law, citizenship, the environment, climate change, and energy transition.
“The formalization of this women’s group offers an exciting opportunity for resistance in the Brazilian Amazon. Not only for socio-environmental reasons but also because it empowers independent women who know their rights and their potential to make change in a society that can often be sexist and exclusionary. Our group is made up of farmers, fisherwomen, students, artisans, university students, pensioners, and urban workers. All dreamers of a fairer world, rooted in solidarity, for present and future generations,” says Márcia Ruth.
“Hearing women in the community express how happy and enthusiastic they are motivates us to participate in the initiative and continue our fight for social and environmental climate justice,” she adds.
Márcia Ruth is at the frontline of the fight against fossil gas exploration in the Amazon. She has been threatened by the local politicians who approved the fossil project, which was done without the proper environmental licenses and consultations with Indigenous and traditional peoples.
Luiz Afonso Rosário from 350.org Brasil believes this initiative is important and will have a big impact:
“Women play an integral role in traditional communities defending the well-being of their families, maintaining balance, and helping the community to thrive. Supporting them in skilling up and empowering them with information means giving them the tools to know their rights, exercise their citizenship, defend their families, culture, ancestry, and territories.”
ASPAC is counting on the support of 350 Brasil to strengthen the Amazon Resistance movement in Silves, Itapiranga, and Itacoatiara and help them fight against misinformation about the risks and damage oil and gas explorations do to the physical and social environment in the region.
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Livia Lie – 350 Latin America
