Paraguay
Strengthening Local Voices in Decision-Making Spaces
Climate change has become a reality for most people through the increase in temperature, extreme weather events, the displacement of the seasonal calendar and a decrease in rainfall. In Paraguay, civil society and mainly marginalised groups have difficulty influencing decision-making on climate agendas.
It is in this context, that the VCA Paraguay programme focuses on strengthening the social fabric, enabling Indigenous and rural communities to access and advocate for their basic rights, and enhancing their capacities to adapt to climate change.
Our Impacts in Paraguay
23
Subcontracted Partners
11
Local Climate Solutions Supported
93,443
People Impacted by Supported Climate Solutions
10
Policies Influenced
The Paraguay Country Story
Paraguay hosts part of the Gran Chaco Americano — the second-largest forested region in South America after the Amazon — and the Pantanal, the world’s largest freshwater wetland. This ecologically and culturally rich area faces severe climate threats. At the same time, deforestation from agricultural and livestock expansion continues at an average of 537 hectares a day, with forest loss in the Chaco increasing by 175% between 2020 and 2022. Meanwhile, over 300,000 rural families remain landless, and many Indigenous peoples are still struggling for recognition of their ancestral territories, with limited or no access to basic services.
The VCA programme works in the Chaco and other strategic areas, strengthening more than 20 civil society and grassroots organisations across 30 Indigenous and rural communities representing 10 Indigenous groups. Its initiatives include building networks and movements, providing legal assistance, improving access to water and sanitation, and enhancing advocacy to safeguard national parks and Indigenous lands. VCA also engages in national policy spaces such as the National Climate Change Commission (CNCC) and the Executive Committee of the Paraguay más Verde project.
Unified by Common Goals
In Paraguay, local partners forged collaborations beyond VCA’s scope, demonstrating the lasting value of trust–based networks. After intensive lobbying from the local communities/Indigenous communities, a Municipal Law for the Protection of the Water Reserve in the Mandiyuti Community, Municipality of Cuevo was enacted and adopted in Paraguay. The law establishes the protection of the water springs and streams that supply water to the community, ensuring their conservation as a vital resource for life and the sustainability of the local ecosystem. It also enhances access to climate financing for local solutions by establishing a regulatory framework that enables the allocation of municipal resources and the facilitation of external funding for the conservation and restoration of the water reserve.
Striving for Change with our Local Partners
In Paraguay, partners El Surtidor, Global Infancia, together with Emancipa, AVINA and WWF collaborated to develop an initiative to improve media coverage on climate justice. This initiative facilitated training for journalists from mainstream and alternative media, as well as local and Indigenous communicators from the Chaco. In total, 11 grants and mentoring have been awarded for the development of journalistic proposals. In addition, the National Climate Action Journalism Awards ceremony took place, awarding 3 winning entries and offering the public an interactive exhibition with the work of 10 finalists. This is just one example of the many collaborations and initiatives led by our local partners.
In the Paraguay Project Profile publication, we highlight various innovative, locally-driven climate action initiatives implemented by our partners in Paraguay.
