Don Preto was born in Campinas, São Paulo, but has lived in the Amazonian city of Belém do Pará for two decades. He carries the African diasporic title “Onilu”- the one who builds drums – and is one of the founders of Casa Preta Amazônia, a cultural center dedicated to preserving Brazil’s African heritage. Casa […]
In the heart of the Amazon rainforest, where Brazil, Bolivia, and Peru meet, we went on a transformative journey last December that showed us the essential role of Indigenous leadership in the fight against climate change. The Cuida! Amazon climate advocacy event (Cuida, a local slang word, means both take care and hurry up), brought […]
The ties between Latin America and the Kingdom of the Netherlands through the Caribbean Netherlands mean that these neighboring territories share many challenges – from climate change to public safety – and need to work together effectively to address them. Hivos and the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD) recently convened a panel of experts […]
By Diego Orellana, Global Urban Futures Project Manager Urban food systems face immense challenges: they both consume over 70 percent of the world’s food and significantly contribute to environmental degradation. Among the 1.7 billion food-insecure people globally, many reside in urban and peri-urban areas. They also struggle with inequality, climate change, and malnutrition. Tackling these […]
By Paula Moreira, program manager, and Danielle Almeida de Carvalho, project officer, of Voices for Just Climate Action in Brazil Extreme weather events are becoming increasingly frequent worldwide. Whether it’s the ongoing drought in the Amazon devastating Indigenous communities in Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, and Colombia. Or the floods in Niger, Chad, and Mali that have […]
Hivos participated in this year’s UN Climate Summit with a small but focused delegation. What lessons can we draw from COP29? And how can we turn them into strategic advocacy to influence COP30 outcomes? Let’s hear from this year’s delegates. Climate finance failure at COP29 Hivos’ Collins Otieno was part of our delegation in Baku […]
The Climate Observatory is a coalition of Brazilian civil society organizations and an ally of Hivos. At the Observatory, Mariana Lyrio follows national and international debates on the environment and climate change. She also advocates for a new kind of politics, one that prioritizes protecting the environment, the climate, and the rights of Indigenous Peoples. […]
Casa Preta literally means “black house” in Portuguese. It is a cultural center in Belém of Pará, the capital city of Pará state in the north of Brazil. People come to the center to learn about Brazil’s African culture. Casa Preta plants African baobab trees, makes African drums and gives music lessons at schools. Paula […]
Indigenous communities in the Amazon live in remote areas with little access to news. The types of media that do reach them are often financed by companies that put profit above nature. But the independent media platform Tapajós de Fato speaks with a different voice.
The Guardiões do Bem Viver (Guardians of Living Well) organization is working to legally establish the rights of the Arapiuns River in the Brazilian Amazon. This will protect the river and its important role in food supply, health, accessibility and nature conservation. Rights of the river The inhabitants of the Amazon depend on rivers for […]
In Ecuador, the fight against gender-based violence isn’t just happening in the streets—it’s happening online. Sitting behind their screens, women and LGBTIQ+ individuals are facing an onslaught of digital harassment, exploitation, and threats.
The steadily worsening climate crisis now has Latin America fully in its grip. Across the region, severe droughts, flooding, and wildfires have ravaged countries like Brazil, Ecuador, and Bolivia, destroying forests, wildlife, and livelihoods. These extreme weather events are clear signals of a climate emergency spiraling out of control, pushing vulnerable ecosystems to the brink […]