Emergency COVID-19 Response Grants
Amazon Watch is providing rapid-response grants to meet the pressing needs of Indigenous communities defending themselves from the spread of COVID-19 via our Amazon Defenders Fund.
Indigenous peoples in the Amazon are already struggling with the climate crisis, deforestation, criminalization and violence, and food sovereignty threats. They have historically been decimated by infectious diseases due to their low immunity because they live in remote regions and depend on public services that continue to be dismantled. The COVID-19 global pandemic will exacerbate this situation, and put their lives in danger. This is one way that Amazon Watch is rapidly responding to our Indigenous allies.
ADF grants are already addressing needs on the ground. In Ecuador, we supported the National Federation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) and the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon (CONFENIAE) to design and implement and prevention and informative COVID-19 campaigns among Indigenous peoples of the Ecuadorian Amazon. In Peru, we contributed to the Inter-Ethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Amazon, AIDESEP – Peru's largest and most internationally-respected Indigenous umbrella organization – to coordinate with local municipalities to equally assess and distribute governmental resources to Indigenous peoples' needs. Additionally, AIDESP is carrying out a COVID-19 contingency strategy, which includes: prevention communication campaigns; providing food, water, and hygienic products to hard-to-reach populations; protection of Indigenous people in voluntary isolation; and monitoring the entrance and exit of Indigenous territories. In Colombia, we are supporting the Association of Traditional Indigenous U'wa Councils, ASOU'Wa to provide water, food, protection supplies (gloves, masks, glasses), temporary housing for Indigenous Guard, and others (mattresses, blankets, beds, tents, etc.).
×