Rights and Resources Initiative

🥳 Congratulations to RRI President and Coordinator, Solange Bandiaky-Badji, for becoming a 2024 Henry Arnhold Fellow at Mulago! Conserving biodiversity and reversing climate change by scaling up solutions to recognize Indigenous Peoples', Afro-descendant Peoples', and local communities' land and resource rights is what we do best. #LandRightsNow

CLARIFI’s vision is of a world where Indigenous, Afro-descendant and local community rightsholders have the financial and technical resources to realize their self-determined plans for thriving in harmony with nature. 🌳🌊🌼🥕🌵 📺 Watch this short video where CLARIFI Steering Committee member, Gustavo Sánchez Valle, speaks about his work with the Red Mexicana de Organizaciones Campesinas Forestales, the Mesoamerican Alliance of Peoples and Forests, and his work on CLARIFI’s leadership team. Established in 2022 by RRI and Campaign for Nature, CLARIFI is a funding mechanism that backs Indigenous Peoples’ and local communities’ global movement to halt #biodiversity loss and combat climate change. Its mission is to secure rights and scale up #conservation solutions to protect 30% of our planet by 2030. This isn't just an ambition, it is an urgent necessity. Learn how CLARIFI is revolutionizing the #climate finance sector by putting communities—especially women and youth—at the helm. #LandRightsNow https://lnkd.in/gUhWmPtB

🙌 Update: In May, the Women in Global South Alliance (#WiGSA) held its second strategic meeting in Kathmandu, Nepal! Armed with a feeling of sisterhood and common purpose, women leaders from 11 countries across Asia, Africa, and Latin America overcame jet lag and time differences to discuss strategies on how best to support the women and girls they represent. ❓ Why is this meeting important? Because even though Indigenous, Afro-descendant, and local community women are at the heart of many development and climate change efforts, women-led organizations continue to be left behind in the decisions that affect them most. To help address this gap, RRI and WiGSA have initiated a scoping exercise as a preliminary step for a new baseline analysis to assess the true level and types of funding actually reaching grassroots women’s organizations in the Global South. Meanwhile, WiGSA members will continue to add their voices to national, regional, and international events on climate and conservation, including the UN CBD #CoP16 in Colombia and the UNFCCC #CoP29 in Azerbaijan later this year. #LandRightsNow Read the full story on The Land Writes Blog 📚 https://lnkd.in/d3KWS2bU

New on The Land Writes Blog! RRI’s Legal Analyst, Isabel Davila Pereira, looks back at some of the world’s biggest legal changes and events from 2023. 🍁 In a historic decision, #Canada agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit with 325 First Nations seeking reparations for the loss of language and culture brought on by the so-called Indian residential schools. ✊🏾 In #Bolivia, Law No. 1497 created, demarcated, and established the Multiethnic Indigenous Territory, benefiting the Mojeño Trinitario, Mojeño Ignaciano, Movima, Yuracaré, and Tsimane Indigenous Peoples. 🌱 In the #DRC, the National Assembly passed the country’s first-ever legislation on land use planning, a result of years-long advocacy by civil society organizations. But despite these wins, developments backtracking or denying rights also occurred in 2023 and challenges remain. In #Peru, political protests were widespread, and in #Australia, the fight for constitutional recognition of Aboriginal Australians was unsuccessful. In a world constantly evolving, this review is a glimpse into the state of rights in 2023. With land reform and legal developments on forestry already taking place in Africa and Latin America, 2024 promises to be equally eventful in international and domestic legal developments for territorial rights and conservation. https://lnkd.in/gADQxmwG

🌲🌱🌊✊🏾🌏 Co-authored by 16 organizations—spanning youth groups, Indigenous networks, and ally organizations—our #AsiaYouthReport is now available in Nepali! The report brings to the fore the experiences and leadership of Asia’s #youth changemakers for the first time and is a must-read if you're interested in learning how youth in #Asia are defending their land rights and the well-being of their communities. Learn more 👇🏽 https://lnkd.in/g3GFTgJj

🙌 Our series on Meet RRI Fellows continues! Etelle Higonnet is an attorney and environmental activist. She was knighted to the National Order of Merit for her pioneering efforts to curb #deforestation in high-risk commodities in cocoa, palm oil, rubber, cattle, and soy industries. She has worked for many organizations, including Mighty Earth, the National Wildlife Federation, Greenpeace, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch, in more than 30 countries. She speaks 9 languages and is a graduate of Yale Law School. Read more about Etelle and other RRI Fellows in our Coalition Guide 👇🏽 https://lnkd.in/gKj4Xb3u

🚨 BREAKING: New research on illegal logging in #Suriname out now! 🚨 Today, the #Saamaka tribe in Suriname is beginning their first-ever protest by blocking the entrance to a logging road destroying their ancestral forests — part of the Amazon rainforest — demanding that the government recognize their #landrights. 🌳✊ Why? Today, International Land Coalition along with Saamaka Oto, RRI, Land Rights Now, Both ENDS, and CIRAD released a groundbreaking report that reveals the devastating impact of illegal mining and logging on Saamaka lands using cutting-edge geospatial tech. We are proud to have contributed to this important report. 📥 Get a sneak peak of the findings & download the report: https://bit.ly/4bmYGyL How can you help? 🤝 Stand in #Solidarity with the Saamaka in this historic moment and sign their petition: https://bit.ly/3xw0ZSj --- #socialjustice #climateaction #climatecrisis #IndigenousRights #EnvironmentalJustice #Sustainability #Biodiversity #Conservation #SustainableDevelopment #SaveTheAmazon #Deforestation #EnvironmentalProtection #SustainableFuture #EcoFriendly #HumanRights #research #advocacy

We are at the Oslo Tropical Forest Forum 🌳 this week, where our President Solange Bandiaky-Badji joined a panel today to discuss how inclusive governance and financial mechanisms can ensure that Indigenous Peoples and local communities continue to steward and protect the 🌏 ecosystems! 🍃 At the panel, Solange introduced a new AI-powered funding dashboard launched by RRI and Rainforest Foundation Norway that provides unprecedented access to donor-reported data on funding for communities' rights and forest guardianship. She also shared that while the dashboard data shows that this funding went up by 36% between 2019-2023, in part thanks to the CoP26 Glasgow Pledge, very little still goes directly to communities' own organizations on the ground. We also connected with the Eve BAZAIBA MASUDI, Environment Minister for the Government of DR Congo! The DRC Government is currently engaged with our coalition members on incorporating rights-based conservation policies in its forthcoming national conservation strategy. Watch the event livestream here: https://lnkd.in/e3ijvfTG

Come work with me! My team is hiring a Communications Associate (1-3 years of experience, must be based in D.C. or Montreal).

📢 We are #hiring for seven new positions! If you or someone you know are interested in advancing the land rights of Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant Peoples + local communities across the world -- this could be the place for you! Apply today 👇 https://lnkd.in/d35T2ue #LandRightsNow